Danganronpa: Outbreak
by Shawn45
Summary: Makoto survived the killing school game with his friends, both hopeful and fearful of what the world would be like once he escaped. Unfortunately, it was far worse than he could ever have imagined. Now with only each other to rely on, Makoto and the survivors of Hope's Peak Academy must make their way through this new world of horror, trying to survive in any way they can.
1. Dead City

Just a few notes before the story begins:

First of all, this is based off of the official English translation of the game. It's the only version of the game I've played, so characters will refer to each other by their first names in this like they did in the game, since that is what I'm used to. Furthermore, this means that characters like Aoi and Yasuhiro will occasionally be called "Hina" and "Hiro" respectively. Lastly, Genocider Sho is known as Genocide Jack/Jill in the English version of the game, so I'm sticking with that. If this bothers you guys, then I apologize, but that's just how I'm doing this.

Secondly. I've had this story written for quite a few months now, and I'm about nine chapters into it. I usually HATE uploading stories that I don't have fully completed online, but since it's nearing Halloween, I really wanted to do some sort of horror or zombie themed story to upload, so I decided to upload this even though I'm not quite done with it yet.

Third, I'm rating this as Teen, because I don't believe that it's too violent, but please note that there may occasionally be a few disturbing scenes that aren't explained in graphic detail. However, if you feel this should be rated M, then let me know.

Lastly, this story doesn't take the second game into account, since I wrote this before that game was even officially released.

That's all, please enjoy.

Chapter One

Dead City

Makoto wasn't sure what to expect as the gigantic vault door slowly slid open, but he hadn't necessarily expected such bright light to temporarily blind him. He lifted his arms, and smiled as he felt the warmth – was that sunlight? He slowly lowered his arms as his eyes adjusted to the natural light, and he let out a loud laugh as he witnessed the view. The sky was still blue, the buildings were still standing, there was grass surrounding the school – nothing looked out of place! This didn't seem so bad after all! He could hear his companion's excitement as well, and he took the first few steps outside.

That was when his excitement quickly started to die down. There was an absolutely putrid smell, and he couldn't help but gag. He'd been around corpses long enough to know this smell, and yet it never ceased to make him gag. He didn't know if he'd ever get used to this smell, or at least, he really hoped he never would. Forcing himself to stop gagging, he walked slowly towards the gates to the academy that were held close with a chain, and then he noticed two large chain-guns on either side of the gate. They may have been active at one point, but now they looked powered down, since the barrels of each gun were pointed down to the ground.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Open the gate." Byakuya's piercing voice cut through the thick tension, and Makoto forced himself to focus once more as he undid the chain linked around the gate, and pushed them open. There was a loud screeching noise as they opened, making Makoto grit his teeth, but he pressed onward.

"Oh… My god…" Aoi's voice was quiet, but it was filled so much horror that Makoto knew what to expect before he even looked up.

Corpses… Everywhere. How many people did these guns take out? How many of these people had tried to come save them as they were being broadcast on television? He felt sick to his stomach, and he couldn't help but place his hand on the wall beside the gate and get rid of the contents of his stomach.

"Wha – What the hell?!" Yasuhiro cried, "S – So many bodies…"

"I'm not looking, not looking…" Toko muttered like a mantra under her breath as she held her eyes shut tightly. A lingering hand gripped Byakuya's jacket, much to the boy's annoyance. He jerked his clothing out of her hand, and continued to look around with a grimace plastered on his face.

"Junko did say that people tried to save us," Kyoko mumbled, a stoic expression preventing any of her emotions from showing through, "But I hadn't realized just how many…"

"It's no use letting the dead get to you." Byakuya replied curtly, "We were being broadcast on television, surely there's someone nearby? Not everyone is foolish enough to wander into the firing range of these turrets." He eyes glanced up and down the street, though there still wasn't a single person in sight. "Curious…"

"Indeed." Kyoko replied, "I wasn't sure what to expect upon coming out here, but this isn't necessarily what I had in mind. Shall we explore?"

"M – Might as well," Aoi muttered, "There has to be someone out there…"

"But isn't it weird how there's not a single sound?" Makoto asked, "I remember hearing cars and people when I came here two years ago, but now… It's just nothing." He took a deep breath, and tried his damn best not to focus on the corpses laying all over the street.

"Now that you mention it, yeah, that's weird." Yasuhiro muttered, "I don't hear much of anything."

"I hear your incessant chatter." Byakuya replied sharply, "Now come on, we don't have all day." He stalked off into the street, walking down it with Toko following quickly behind. Glancing at each other, Makoto and Kyoko nodded, and following right after him, with both Aoi and Yasuhiro right behind them.

Like Makoto said, the city was utterly silent. They walked into an intersection, and they could see cars stopped in the middle of the road, and some were even crashed into nearby buildings or sign posts. What made it even creepier was the fact that the ground was absolutely littered with paper and all sorts of trash, which was being blown across the street by some stray gusts of wind.

"W – W – Where is everyone?" Toko asked, glancing around nervously, "S – Shouldn't there be a sign of life somewhere?" She got closer to Byakuya, who didn't seem to notice, since his eyes were too busy scanning the area to care about what she was doing.

"There!" Aoi cried out, "See? There's a man walking over there!" The five of them looked towards where she was pointing, and sure enough, there was a man walking across the street… or more accurately, stumbling across the street.

"Wait, don't-!" Kyoko reached out to try to grab Aoi's hand before the girl could run off, but she was too late. The Ultimate Swimming Pro ran quickly to the man with the rest hot on her heels, and she stopped behind him.

"Excuse me, sir?" She tapped his shoulder, and he slowly turned towards her, causing Aoi to let out a loud blood curling scream, "What are you?!" she cried, taking a quick step back. By the time Makoto and the rest reached her, they could see what made her scream so loud. Half of the man's face was completely torn off, and they could see flesh simply dangling from his arm. He lunged towards Aoi, but she fortunately reacted much quicker due to all of her training, and kicked him away, "Stay away from me!" She screamed, not wanting it anywhere close to her.

The man crumpled on the ground, and let out a low and throaty moan, and slowly started to get up. "Look…" Byakuya muttered, "His leg, it's broken!" Sure enough, the man's leg was broken, but that didn't seem to do anything to deter him as he stood on the leg, creating a sickeningly loud _crack_ as he stood on it.

Toko took one look at the sight before her, and her eyes promptly rolled into the back of her head, and she collapsed, being caught by Yasuhiro just at the last second. "What's going on?" He asked, looking up in horror at the monstrosity standing in front of them.

Suddenly, they could see others just like the man appear from behind corners or inside nearby buildings, awakening as if they were just powered on. Makoto let out a startled gasp, and took a step back, before he turned around and noticed that they were massing behind them as well. "G – Guys!" He cried, bringing their attention to their backside.

"Whatever these things are, we must move!" Kyoko cried, "We don't want to be surrounded by them!"

"Don't we?" A new voice cried, and jumping up from Hiro's arms was Toko – or rather, her alternate personality, Genocide Jill, "Ohhhh! Look! Zombies!"

"Zombies?" Byakuya repeated, "Don't be ludicrous! Those are just beings of pure fantasy!"

"Are they?" Makoto asked, "Then what in the world are these things?!"

"Whatever they are, they're dangerous!" Kyoko exclaimed, "Come on!" She ran behind them, avoiding behind grabbed by any of the monsters, and everyone else was just one step behind, not wanting to be zombie food any more than she did. They had to weave their way through, though Genocide Jill seem to take great pleasure in using her scissors to stab them, burying the blade deep within their eye sockets, killing them instantly.

"Where are you taking us?" Byakuya asked Kyoko as he ran alongside her. He hated running, but in a case like this, he would make an exception.

"Back to the school!" She exclaimed, "We can barricade ourselves inside for a little bit as we gather supplies!"

"What?!" Aoi cried, "But we worked our butts off to get out! Now we're going back inside?!"

"If you have a better plan, then I suggest you say it now!" Kyoko replied curtly. When no retort came she nodded, "Anyway, it'll only be for a little while, the school has a lot of supplies and food in it. We can pack it up and get some weapons to protect us while we're at it."

"Weapons?" Makoto whispered, his face paling. He was about to retort when he felt a sudden grip on his arm. "What the?!" He turned to see one of the monsters had grabbed his sweater and gripped it hard, pulling him towards it. The monster must have been a normal business man once upon a time, but now he was simply a rotting husk of a man. "Stay away!" He cried.

"Oh don't be a baby!" Genocide Jill shouted, slamming one of her many scissors into the man's eye socket, which did the trick. The monster's grip on Makoto loosened enough for him to get out of it, and he looked at her in shock. "What's wrong?" She asked, "Do I have something in my hair?"

"Um a lot of blood," Makoto muttered, "But… Thank you."

She shrugged, "I killed these things a _lot_, so it's not that big of a deal! I'm a bit out of practice though, but eh, who cares?"

"You've done this before?" Byakuya asked, "You mean to say that this happened _before_ we were imprisoned in the school? I thought the tragedy was referring to something else, not – not this!"

"Questions later!" Kyoko shouted, "We need to get to the school first!" Byakuya shot a glare towards her, but he knew she was right, so he held in his insults, and just followed her back towards the gate of the school.

Once the group was back inside, Makoto, Aoi, and Yasuhiro all quickly closed the gate, and all three of them grabbed the chain and wrapped it around the gate, trying to lock it like it was before. They got it right in time too, since the first of the many monsters slammed its body into it, moaning and reaching its arms through, trying to grab them.

Makoto fell down, his arms behind him keeping him upright as he breathed heavily, looking at the rotting horrors in front of him. His whole body shook – this wasn't supposed to be what was out here! What in the world was going on?! He felt a hand rest on his shoulder, and he looked up to see Kyoko standing beside him, "Calm down. We have work to do." She told him.

Seeing her so unfazed was what allowed him to steel his own resolve, so he quickly nodded, "Y – Yeah… Ok. We have work to do." He got to his feet, though they were still shaking from fear and adrenaline.

"What's going on?!" Yasuhiro cried, rubbing his hands through his huge mass of hair, "Junko didn't say anything about – about those things!" He pointed a shaking finger to the gate, where more and more of the monsters were pressing up and beginning to pound on it, "What in the world is going on?"

"Calm down." Kyoko told him, "Panicking now will not benefit us at all. We need to keep a level head and think about this." She waited patiently for everyone to gather around, and once the five of them were with her, she began to speak again, "Now Toko, you said something about encountering these things before, right?"

"Sure did!" She exclaimed, and for some bizarre reason she just started to laugh hysterically, "Back before Toko decided to lock herself up in the school, we would encounter them occasionally, and I would _KILL THEM!_" Her eyes narrowed dangerously and she gripped her scissors, "But I don't remember it being as bad as it is now! There's absolutely no one in the streets anymore!"

"So you're saying that these monsters have been here for over a year now?" Byakuya asked, "How is that possible?"

"Yes master, they've been here since then!" She exclaimed, a large blush covering her face as she looked at him with something akin to awe and lust, "But I don't know all of the details. All I know is that it's related to the Tragedy, you'd have to ask the other me for more about it!"

"And like the rest of us, Toko got her memories erased…" Aoi muttered, looking crest-fallen, "So… Now what?"

"What was the standard procedure regarding these monsters before?" Kyoko asked, "Do you remember that?"

Genocide Jill nodded enthusiastically, "Kill on sight! If you get bit by them, you're doomed to become one!" She laughed at the shocked look on all of their faces, "And to kill them you gotta destroy the brain!" She pointed at her head, "Nothing else will get em! I heard they're already dead, and from the smell, I can definitely agree with that!"

"No way…" Makoto muttered, "So we're really dealing with – with zombies?!"

"For now that is what we have to assume," Kyoko muttered, then her eyes turned up quickly upon hearing the groaning of the gates, "And from the looks of it, we don't have much time before they come in here. Listen to me, all of you go inside and gather whatever weapon you can find. We _need _to be able to defend ourselves!"

Unlike before, Makoto wasn't going to object, "O – Ok…" He mumbled. He was glad that at least both Aoi and Yasuhiro both looked as troubled as he felt.

He wished he could take his time, but another loud creak from the gate made him rush, and he along with the other five were inside of the school immediately, looking for some kind of weapon. He didn't even care where the others went, he already had an idea of what he wanted. He rushed to the school store, where he had been several times, and he saw a sword behind a glass case there.

The display case looked really sturdy, so he looked around the small room for something to smash the glass with, until he figured something out. Rushing out of the school store, he ran down the hall and up the stairs towards the locker rooms. He gasped for breath as he jogged, and he practically slammed into the locker room door, surprised briefly by the fact that the door was unlocked, but he had little time to think on that.

Grabbing the first weight he could find, he exited the room as fast as his little body could move, running down the stairs at least two steps at a time, before he finally was back in the main hallway, dashing towards the school store yet again. Sliding to a halt at the door, he swung it open, and went to the glass, where he lifted the weight and with all of his might, and he slammed it down, shattering the glass everywhere.

"Yes!" He cried, and he reached into the display case to pull out the sword. He grimaced at the weight, and he had to reach in with both hands to pull it out. "Um… Hm…" he lifted the sheath off of the sword, and swung it a few times, "It's a bit heavier than I thought it would be…" He muttered to himself, but he shook the thought aside for now, "Whatever, I have to get used to it!" Fumbling a bit to put the sword back in the sheath, he did so, and then threw the strap over his shoulder so he could carry it with little difficulties.

"Ok, I need to get back to the entrance!" He exclaimed to himself, trying to pump himself up and not shake with fear. It worked… a little. His feet still shook as he ran back to the entrance, but he was glad to see that almost everyone else was back.

Aoi stood there with a bow strapped to her back, and the titanium arrows from the dojo upstairs were strapped on her back as well. She gave a short wave as Makoto approached, and explained, "I shot a few arrows before I picked it up, so I'm not _terrible_ at it, but, eh…" She shrugged sheepishly, "I guess I'll get my practice soon enough…" She looked out the entrance way towards the gates, where it seemed at least two dozen of the monsters stood.

Genocide Jill meantime looked impatient, continually looking back towards the hall, no doubt waiting for Byakuya to come back. He couldn't recall Jill even going back into the school, and that made sense, he decided, since she seemed rather… skilled, when it came to the scissors she kept with her. She didn't even seem annoyed that coagulated blood coated the blades, though Makoto wasn't going to bother asking her to clean them, he valued his life far too much to do something stupid like that.

"Hey, Hiro," Makoto instead waved at him as he walked over to Aoi and him, "Are those the knives from the kitchen?" He asked, noticing that Yasuhiro had several blades in his pockets, though he had a huge survival knife currently held in his hand.

"Yeah," He confirmed, "Though I got this one from Mukuro's corpse," As he said that, he lifted it up for them to see, "N – never thought I'd be using it though…" He stuttered, hearing the unsettling noise of the gate again groaning under the weight it was under.

"I see you're all here already, good." Byakuya appeared, holding a bag with some clearly round shaped objects in it. His eyes looked over the crowd, and he adamantly ignored Genocide Jill as she ran over and started to gush about him, "Where's Kyoko?"

"Right here." The girl replied, walking towards the group as her pink eyes stared straight ahead at the horde of monsters on the other side of the gate. "Did you all get your weapons?"

"Yeah,"

"Yep."

"Of course!"

She nodded, "Good. Then I'll be needing -"

"Wait a minute." Byakuya interrupted her, "Where's your weapon?" He asked her pointedly, "You told all of us to gather weaponry, yet you don't have any yourself?" He looked less than pleased with her, and crossed his arms, despite the large bag he held.

She turned to look at him, and she reached a hand in her pocket, and pulled out a gun. Makoto couldn't help but gasp at the mere sight of it, and even Aoi and Yasuhiro recoiled a bit at the sight. Byakuya's eyes however simply narrowed, while Genocide Jill didn't seem to care at all. "I got it from the headmaster's office." She said, knowing that everyone was wondering where she got it, "I got it a few days ago, actually, but I hid it, since I didn't want it to be involved in any future murders."

"How did you-" Whatever Byakuya was about to say was interrupted by a very loud groaning noise as the chain holding the gates shut suddenly snapped, and the gates leading to the school began to open inwards. "Shit," Byakuya let out, turning his full attention to the threat ahead, "How many bullets do you have?"

"There's six in the gun, and twelve more in my pocket," She replied, "That's unimportant for now. We need to get supplies from here." She pointed to Aoi and Yasuhiro, "You two, come with me. Grab two backpacks each and put in as much bottled water and food as you can possible stuff in them. You three," Her eyes locked with Makoto as she said this, "We need you to hold the entrance long enough for us to gather our supplies."

"Oh!" Genocide Jill exclaimed, "This will be fun!" She turned towards the horde, her scissors in hand, and a giggle erupted from her lips from the pure anticipation she felt.

"Very well," Byakuya agreed hesitantly, "Makoto, Jill, you two kill as many of them as you can. I'll support you if you need it."

"K – Kill?" Makoto muttered, feeling his insides go absolutely cold. Even during the game, he never even entertained the thought of murdering any of his fellow students, so the thought of killing someone else, even if it was a monster appalled him.

"It's either them, or us." Byakuya reminded him, "Don't tell me your feeble little mind can't understand that?"

"R – Right." Makoto muttered, shaking his head, steeling his resolve. If he died here – if he died now – everything he did today would be for naught. He had to prove Junko wrong, he had to prove that hope would prevail over despair! "Let's do this!"

"Good luck, Makoto," Aoi shouted to him as she, Kyoko, and Yasuhiro made their way back into the school to get supplies.

"What are the supplies for, anyway?" Makoto asked, unsheathing his sword and holding it in front of him like he could recall from the samurai movies. His feet were shaking so badly, so a little conversation, he figured, would ease his nerves.

"If it weren't for what I've seen you're capable of, I'd assume that you were brain dead." Byakuya let out a sigh, "Kyoko understands that whatever is going on, this infection is dangerous, and it must have hit cities particularly hard. As you know, we're in a city – a rather large one at that – so I assume we're getting supplies so we can get out of the city as soon as possible and run away."

"But there might be survivors here!" Makoto exclaimed, "We can't just leave without looking!"

"If you want to stay and die, then be my guest!" Byakuya replied evenly, "but me, along with Kyoko and presumably everyone else, are going to try to escape. In order to do that, we unfortunately have to work together." The mere idea seemed to appall him, "Do you not understand how severe of a situation we're in now?"

At that moment the monsters crossed the threshold to enter the school, and Genocide Jill got to work, rushing into the horde and beginning to stab her scissors into the eyes of all of them within her reach, destroying their brains with a sort of insane yet graceful dance of death. "Hahahaha!" She laughed manically, jumping, kicking, and stabbing every single one she could.

"Go!" Byakuya ordered Makoto, and he wasted no time at all. Forcing his feet to stop shaking, Makoto rushed towards the zombies, and swung his sword with all his might, letting out a startled gasp as the blade seem to go halfway through a zombie's head before getting stuck in its skull. It was dead, but his sword was unmoving, and he was forced to pull it out, wasting valuable time.

"This is harder than I thought it would be," He muttered, steadying himself, and lunging at the nearest enemy. This time, instead of slashing at its head, he jabbed the sword towards the zombie as it lunged towards him, and the blade went cleanly into its head this time. He let out a cry of surprise at how easily his sword went in that time, throwing off his balance, but he recovered much quicker this time, going for a third one.

Byakuya observed the fighting from his position silently, and he realized that while both were – and he begrudgingly admitted this – doing a fine job of holding them off, they were both beginning to get tired, and that could lead to their potential deaths. "Makoto, Toko, back away from the entrance for a bit!" He yelled, opening his bag and pulling out a familiar looking object.

"What's that?!" Makoto asked in shock, "Is that a bomb?!"

"Yes. I got it from the hatch under the data room." He replied, a smug smile crossing his face, "Why fight like a barbarian when I could do this?" He pressed a button on the bomb, which activated it, and then he threw it towards the horde. There was a loud beeping noise as it neared the horde of monsters, and the beeping got faster and faster, and within seconds, it suddenly exploded. A fine layer of dust flew into the air, and Makoto had to cover his eyes for a bit.

When he looked up, he let out a loud laugh of relief to see that the bomb killed quite a few of them, though his laugh died in the back of his throat when he saw even more of them coming. "How many are there?"

"How many people do you suppose were living in the city?" Byakuya asked, a pleased smile crossing his face when he saw Makoto's eyes widening, "There's your answer, now get back to fighting. I don't want to have to use another one of these bombs if I have to. There are only six more left."

"Your wish is my command master!" Genocide Jill exclaimed, again rushing the horde, and proceeding to do her dance.

Though Makoto was a bit unnerved by the amount of zombies still remaining, he was glad that at least they were thinning out a little bit. They were still walking in through the gate, but not in as quite as large clumps as they were earlier. He went forth and swung his sword again, killing yet another.

This went on for another twenty minutes at least, and in that time Byakuya had to use another two of his bombs to give Makoto and Jill a little bit of time to rest. Finally the other three showed up, and Makoto could see the surprised looks on all of their faces, even Kyoko's mask fell for a bit as she looked at the carnage in front of them. He wished he could laugh or point out how funny they looked, but he was too busy gasping for breath, and leaning against the wall. Genocide Jill was similarly exhausted, though she was closer to Byakuya.

"Holy shit," Yasuhiro exclaimed, "I can't believe you guys held it for this long!"

"Thank god you guys came now," Makoto gasped, "I – I don't know how much longer I could keep this up." He must have killed at least thirty of the monsters, though he wouldn't be surprised if it was closer to forty. Along with Byakuya's bombs, and Genocide Jill's murderous tendencies, there were dozens of dead zombies all around the room.

"We got as many supplies as we could possible carry in these bags," Kyoko replied, her mask sliding firmly back into place, "Everyone grab one, and strap it on, after that, we're going to make a break for it." She looked at Makoto and Jill, "We'll rest for a few more minutes, but we need to move soon. Byakuya, once we're ready to go, use another one of your bombs to clear a passage way. How many will you have left after that?"

"If I use one to clear us a way, that'll leave three more for me to use." He replied, "I'd prefer not to waste them."

"We're not wasting them," Kyoko assured him, "Unless if you wish to die."

He glared at her, but didn't say a word, and simply crossed his arms, watching the horde outside of the entrance slowly make their way towards then. Earlier they frightened him, but now, seeing how easy they went down, especially when they were forced into a choke point, Byakuya didn't fear them anymore. If this is what really made the outside world collapse, then he would be _very_ disappointed.

"Here, drink this." Aoi handed Makoto a water bottle, and he gratefully accepted it, taking a large gulp of water. "How was… Killing them?" She asked, looking fearfully at the horde.

"I know it's bad to say, but…" He grimaced, "Don't think of them as people. It's how I do it. I know it sounds horrible, believe me…" He forced himself to his feet, despite their loud protests, "They don't react to pain at all, and all they do is moan, so at least they make it pretty easy."

She still look uneasy, but she nodded, handing over one of the two backpacks she was holding over to Makoto, "Are you ready to go?" She asked, a concerned look crossing her face.

"Do we have a choice?" He replied, echoing the words he remembered from the interview DVD he viewed earlier, "If we stay here, we'll eventually die. They just don't stop coming." He heaved the backpack she handed to him around his shoulder, and got to his feet.

"Yeah… you're right." She sighed, and then she slammed her fist into her open palm, "Alright! Let's do this!" Makoto grinned, glad to see her getting pumped up. It was either that or give into despair, and after what happened earlier, he knew all of them would refuse to do that. They were his friends, after all.

Yasuhiro held a knife in a shaky hand, and swung it down on the closet zombie as they began to enter the threshold of the school building again. Like Makoto earlier, it got stuck, but he fortunately was able to pull it out just as well. "Don't do that," Makoto exclaimed, rushing to his side and holding his sword out in front of him, "You need to stab them in the eyes, that way the blade doesn't get stuck in their skulls!"

"You sound like a professional already!" Yasuhiro replied, though he did just as Makoto instructed on the next one, and it did come out a lot easier, "Hey! You're right!"

"Back away!" Byakuya called out, holding out a bomb, ready to activate it and throw it into the horde. Makoto, Genocide Jill, and Yasuhiro all complied, and mere seconds later, another dozen or two of zombies were dead. From the smoke they all rushed out, Genocide Jill leading the pack as she killed any of the zombies that were in their path.

"Byakuya, Aoi, don't use your weapons!" Kyoko called out, "We need to save as many bombs as possible, and we won't be coming back here to collect any arrows you shoot!" She narrowly avoided the crushing grip on a zombie, and was surprised when suddenly an arrow was thrust into its eye socket, killing it immediately. She turned towards Aoi who rather than shooting her arrows, held it in her hand to use as a makeshift dagger. A small smile crossed Kyoko's lips, "I stand corrected."

The six students made it back to the gates, and when they burst out to the streets, Makoto couldn't help but allow a shout of alarm to leave his lips. There must have been hundreds – no, _thousands_ – of zombies lining the streets going towards their school, or more specifically, towards them. His mouth dropped in terror, but he suddenly felt a hand grip his arm and pull, knocking him back to his senses. He looked to see Yasuhiro give him a short wave, and he nodded back in appreciation, glad that Yasuhiro prevented him from pausing for too long.

"Toko! Kill ALL of them in our path!" Byakuya shouted, avoiding being grabbed by a nearby zombie, and he retaliated by smashing his fist into the creature's jaw, being sure to avoid getting any of his skin scratched by the monster's decayed teeth.

"Yes master!" Genocide Jill cried, glad to have an order from her master. She attacked with a renewed vigor, stabbing everything as if it was second nature to her. The group became a bit more organized as they mowed through the horde, and fortunately they weren't in the heart of the swarm, since the amount of them surrounding them was thinner than it was at the school gates, but just by a little bit.

Leading the pack was still Genocide Jill, while right behind her was Yasuhiro, who was getting quite good at jabbing his multiple knives into any zombies that Jill missed with her attacks. Then behind him was both Byakuya and Kyoko, whose weapons were considered too valuable to use, so they relied on both Aoi and Makoto to defend them for the most part, who were behind both of them, picking off any zombies that lunged at the group. The formation was made on the fly with little input from any of them, but it worked, and that was all that mattered to them.

"I'm going to lead now," Kyoko called out a few minutes later, "Toko, let me lead!" The serial killer glared at her, but one sharp look from Byakuya made her concede and give the girl point. This road wasn't as full of the zombies, though there were still crashed cars and collapsed signs they had to go around, or in some cases, climb over.

"Where are you taking us?" Byakuya asked as he jumped down from atop the car he just climbed over, catching a quick breath as Makoto and Aoi climbed over right behind him.

"It's getting late," She replied, motioning her head towards the quickly darkening sky, "We have maybe an hour of daylight left. There's no way we're going to be able to escape here if it's dark, we won't be able to see or avoid the dangers in our path, so I'm trying to determine a place we can rest for the night and not be disturbed."

Byakuya nodded, "I see." He noticed several zombies crawling out from under the car and he stood back, giving one of them a swift kick with his foot, "damn things are like cockroaches!"

"There!" Kyoko pointed to a building just a block down the road, "I have a plan on how to rid the horde from our tail and rest for tonight."

"Good…" Makoto gasped, feeling his legs shaking from all the running and fighting he had to do. "Cause I don't think I can go on much longer…" He blinked a few times, realizing that his vision was beginning to blur, "I need a rest."

"Just a little longer," Aoi told him encouragingly, standing next to him. She was in far better shape than he was, but even she was getting tired. It had been a while since she felt this worn out though, so she didn't even want to know how the rest felt, since none of them really did much exercising while in the school.

"Ok… I can do it." He took a deep breath and stood straight up, giving Aoi a slight smile.

"Watch out!" Yasuhiro called out, pointing to a large group coming at them from the car they just climbed over, "This isn't going to hold them for long!" He was right too, since they were beginning to simply crawl under the cars or take the long way around to get to them.

"Come on!" Kyoko yelled, getting the group to run the last distance to the building. It was a large building that was at least seven stories tall, and it appeared to be an apartment building. Several windows were destroyed, and there even appeared to be a corpse hanging from one, but honestly, none of them felt particularly picky in their exhaustion. They ran up the stoop of the building, and burst into the lounge.

The lounge may have been nice at one point, but all of the furniture was torn or tossed over, and there even appeared to be some corpses on the ground. Makoto was so worn out that the sight didn't make him react a bit, and feeling safer than he had for a long time that day, he fell to his knees and began to empty his guts.

"Shit, what's wrong?" Yasuhiro cried, looking at Makoto, "He wasn't bit, was he?"

"No," Kyoko shook her head, "He's just exhausted." She turned away, ignoring him for now, "Hina, Hiro, Get some of the furniture to barricade the door with, Genocide Jill, you…"

"She's out of commission," Byakuya replied, pointing to the girl who passed out on a nearby couch, "It appears that even an insane woman like her can get exhausted."

Kyoko nodded, "I suppose it makes sense, the two of them have been fighting since we left the school." She let out a sigh, "Then Byakuya, can you go investigate the room to make sure none of those monsters are in here?" She was very thankful that he left without a single word, so she knelt down next to Makoto, "Makoto, are you going to be all right?"

"I feel sick…" He replied, "I – I…" He couldn't hold it in anymore, and he again threw up the remaining contents of his stomach. He coughed a few times, "I'm sorry…" He mumbled, "This must be… pretty uncool, huh?" he forced out a chuckle, and allowed Kyoko to lead him towards a chair that wasn't too badly damaged in the lounge.

"You did well," Kyoko assured him, "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have gotten as far as we have. You can rest now." She told him, "Just take it easy, ok? I'm going to go look around to make sure we can escape the horde."

"Thank god for the cars out front," Yasuhiro muttered as he and Aoi finally pushed several ruined pieces of furniture in front of the door, "They ought to fumble around out there for a little while…" He let out a loud sigh, "We can rest for now."

Aoi walked over to Makoto and knelt down beside him, "Is he going to be alright?" She asked Kyoko, though her concerned eyes were solely focused on him.

"He'll be fine, he just needs some rest." Kyoko replied, "He's just physically exhausted." She stood up, "Can you watch over him and Toko for now? I need to look around for a little bit, and Yasuhiro can help me."

"Yeah, I'll watch them. No danger will come to them while I'm here!" She stated, getting pumped up yet again, balling his fists tightly.

"Good, then I'll entrust them to you. Yasuhiro, come with me." Kyoko called.

"Yes, ma'am!" He saluted, and ran over to her side, "So what are we doing?"

"Investigating. We just need to find the stairs, since I doubt the elevator is working, but we're probably going to need a key to get onto the roof." She looked around the lounge in full now. Makoto, Toko, and Aoi were all sitting down for now, but to the left upon entering was a receptionist's desk where she'd assume the keys would be, and perhaps any other things she needed to know about the building.

She started there, while she assumed Yasuhiro went to try and find the stairs. It shouldn't be too difficult of a task, since surely the stairs would be labeled. "Now to get to work…" she mumbled, feeling much better now, since she was getting into her element. Scattered all across the desk were papers and other things, and she figured that she could perhaps figure out exactly what happened based on the newspapers lying around here.

"It's getting kind of dark," Aoi muttered, looking towards the ceiling at the lights. She knew it was a pointless endeavor, but she got up and flipped the light switch on the wall, and nothing happened. She hadn't really expected much, but still, soon they were going to be in darkness, and she didn't look forward to that, not when the world was how it was.

"No use?" Makoto asked, sitting up straighter, even as his stomach protested the movement.

"No, no power at all." She replied, "You know…" She looked up to make sure no one else was listening, "If I knew the outside world was like this… I think I wouldn't mind staying inside that place for the rest of my life…" She _hated_ to admit it, since they were trying so hard to escape, but now… it was her honest feelings, and she felt he had a right to know.

He sighed, "Yeah, I know. I feel the same way now." He frowned, looking down at the ground, unable to look her in the face, "If Junko didn't somehow erase our memories… We'd be in there still with all of our friends, still alive…"

"Stop moping," Kyoko came out and smacked him lightly on the head with some papers, "You're supposed to be our hope, right? You can't give up now, not now, since we've finally escaped."

He looked up at her, blinking in surprise, but a smile worked its way onto his face, "Heh, yeah… Yeah! You're right! We wanted to get out, to experience the world for ourselves, so that's what we're doing! It might seem hopeless right now, and we might want to give into despair, but we can do this! We'll just have to rebuild!"

Seeing Makoto's spirits regained, Aoi felt herself feeling better as well, and she noticed that Kyoko also looked relieved, despite the fact that she desperately tried to hide all of her emotions behind her stoic mask. "Yeah, I'm sorry for bring the mood down," Aoi chuckled, feeling a bit foolish for giving into despair so quickly.

"Honestly, I don't blame you," Makoto replied, his eyes trailing towards the door, where he witnessed the first of many zombies finally reaching it, and they began to pounding it, their loud and horrible moan chilling them all to the bone. "With what we're dealing with, I think giving into despair is something that most people would do."

"The floor is secure, as far as I can tell," Byakuya spoke upon entering the room. He noticed the three close to each other, and he raised his eyes, "I suppose it's good that I was gone, I don't want to involuntarily participate in whatever it is that you imbeciles do to cheer yourselves up." He lifted a paper, "Anyway, I was gone for a bit because I found this."

"The dead rise?" Makoto read the newspaper Byakuya held up, "So… They really _are_ zombies?"

"As ridiculous as it sounds, yes. Yes they are." He replied, "Though honestly, given the ease at which we've been going through them, I'm extremely disappointed in my society for falling as it did." Byakuya's eyes then turned to the door, "I assume we're going to move soon? That barricade won't last very long."

"We'll be fine for another five minutes!" Aoi exclaimed, "Let Toko and Makoto rest for a little bit more!"

"I found the stairs!" Yasuhiro ran into the room excitedly, "though uh, I think there's a bit of a problem." He muttered, "There's a lot of zombies there… I almost got bit!" He exclaimed.

"There's blood on your arm!" Byakuya exclaimed, "According to this paper, if you're bitten, you turn within hours! Show me your arm now, or were you really bitten?"

"N – No!" Yasuhiro cried, "L – Look! See? This blood is just from one of the zombies I killed!" He lifted his sleeve up, and indeed his skin wasn't punctured with any bites.

"He's telling the truth," Kyoko replied before Byakuya could continue his argument, "Trust me. I can tell when someone is lying, and like you said, we have to leave. Wasting our time with this is something we can't afford."

"Fine." Byakuya replied, "Then might I suggest you tell us what it is you wanted us to do here? As far as I can see, you've trapped us all in this building to die. That door is going to hold for maybe a half hour, if we're lucky."

"We're not trapped," Kyoko denied, "Yasuhiro found the stairs, and we're going to go the roof, then we'll jump across and leave through that building. So far these monsters have shown minimal intelligence. They don't climb over or open doors and obstacles to get us, they just keep pressing their bodies into them until their accumulated weight breaks them down. If we jump the roof, there's no way they'll be able to follow us."

"I see," Byakuya rubbed his chin, nodding his head, "Yes, I too have noticed that lack of basic brain functionality. They'll definitely have difficulties even climbing the stairs to get up to us, so we'll be safe."

"Exactly." Kyoko replied, "But we must leave soon. I don't wish to delay, since the sunlight will be gone within a half hour or so." As she said that, she looked towards the barricaded windows, and saw the orange rays of the setting sun peering through, though even those slowly disappeared as the sun set behind the buildings.

"Are you ready to leave?" Aoi asked Makoto, patting him on the back gently, "You heard them, we need to go soon."

He nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine." He grabbed his sword he dropped next to his chair, and got to his feet. His stomach still protested, but he felt a lot better now having rested for a little bit. "Is Toko going to be ok?"

"It's unfortunate that the apocalypse occurred, otherwise I would suggest leaving her." Byakuya grumbled, "But for now, she's far too useful of a tool to dispose of."

"Don't let her hear you say that, man." Yasuhiro shuddered, "I think my ear drums would pop from her scream of happiness."

"Duly noted,"Byakuya replied, reaching over and roughly shaking the girl away, "Toko? Toko, wake up! Now is not the time to be taking a nap!"

"Uh…? What? Who…?" She blinked her eyes, "Master!" She sat up quickly looking around, "Where am I? What's going on?"

"Ah, it's actually Toko, not Genocide Jill." Yasuhiro muttered, "Usually I would be all for Toko being out, but given the circumstances…" He let it hang, and helplessly shrugged, "You know, I never thought the day would come when I actually relied on a serial killer to help us."

"It doesn't matter what her personality is right now," Kyoko replied, getting all of their attention, "I found these keys at the desk, so getting to the roof shouldn't be a problem. We're going to jump over to the next building, and I think that alone should throw the horde off of our tail for now."

"T – The monsters?!" Toko gasped, "You mean, that wasn't a dream?!" She looked close to crying, "B – But… No!"

"Shut up, woman." Byakuya told her sharply, "We don't have time for your whining, it's time to go."

"Y – Yes master!" She exclaimed, "Lead the way."

With both Toko and Makoto up, the group followed Yasuhiro to the stairs, and as he said, there were quite a few zombies dwelling in there. "If I had to guess," Yasuhiro stated as he slammed his knife into the eye socket of the zombie closest to him, "I'd say they came in here try to escape the zombies, and there may have been some of them who were bitten, and… well…" Another swing of his knife killed yet another one, which he carelessly tossed over the railing of the stairs, throwing them down to the bottom of the stairwell. Rather than finish his train of thought, he just led the group up the dark stairwell.

Behind him, Kyoko followed closely, with Byakuya and a terrified Toko right behind them. Finally, at the end of the group was Aoi who was keeping a hold of Makoto, much to the blushing boy's embarrassment.

"Oh come on," Aoi teased, "You don't like being held up by a girl?" She was doing her best to ignore the slaughter that Yasuhiro was doing in the front of the group, and was focusing solely on Makoto.

"It's not that I necessarily mind it – well – I mean…" He shook his head, "I just don't like appearing this weak." He chuckled, "I guess it's kind of stupid, but it's how I feel."

"It _is_ stupid," Aoi replied, rolling her eyes, "Seriously? You've saved _all_ of our lives, so this is the least I can do for you." She saw him about to protest, so she stopped him yet again, "Ah! Don't talk! If you're gonna say something about how you didn't save us, then can it, because it's not true. Being humble is fine and all, but don't be humble if it means you're negating your achievements… or something like that. I think it's a famous quote!"

"Don't be so humble, you're not that great." Byakuya spoke up from in front of them, "It's a quote from Golda Meir. That's the gist of what Aoi is_ attempting _to say, anyway." He shrugged, "And I _do_ happen to agree with her. Don't be an idiot, just accept your accomplishment for what it is."

A few minutes later they reached the top of the stairs, where there was a door leading to the roof. Kyoko went first, unlocking the door, and then opening it to the roof. It was quite dark in the stairwell, so seeing some light was quite a nice breath of fresh air, even if it was quickly fading away. However, the next thing all of them noticed was a bucket of paint on the ground, and their eyes were drawn to a large painted message saying 'HELP'.

"I wonder if anyone ever came to rescue them." Aoi muttered, still holding onto Makoto as she looked across the painted message.

"Hm," Kyoko muttered, glancing down at the papers she had taken from the front desk and still didn't discard, "This would make sense. This city was supposedly an evacuation zone, so these people probably came up here hoping to be rescued." She looked around for any corpses, and thankfully didn't see any.

"Once we get across into the other building, I'd like to see this paper of yours." Byakuya replied evenly. He then walked over to the edge of the building and looked down, and he bit back a curse.

"What's up?" Yasuhiro asked, walking over, and his eyes widened as he suddenly looked down, "No… Holy shit… That was after us?" He backed up away from the edge, and nearly fell down, but he just barely managed to keep his footing, "I can't believe there's so many of them…"

Aoi and Makoto walked over next, and both of them were similarly amazed and immediately fearful of the terror beneath them. "Th – That's even more than we saw outside of the school…" Makoto gasped, "There's thousands of them!" He couldn't see a single spot in the streets that wasn't filled with those monsters, and he felt his heart beating faster, knowing that if he stayed at the school just ten minutes longer, there would have been no way they could have escaped.

"I was thinking of jumping to the building right next to this one, but given the circumstances, I think jump a few buildings is in order." Kyoko muttered, keeping her fear in check. They heard a loud noise as suddenly the door to their building was busted into, and the horde began to pour inside. "Fortunately we're safe up here. Now come on, we can't stay here all day."

Toko was the only one who didn't look down, standing far back, not wanting, to witness the horror so soon after she woke up from being Genocide Jill. "I – I agree, let's get going. We only have a little bit longer of day light." The sun wasn't even visible anymore, there was just a small thin line of orange out on the horizon, and everything was painted a dark blue as darkness began to fall upon them.

Taking Toko's advice, the group jumped across several rooftops, going as far in one direction as they could possibly go. Fortunately, Makoto could make the jumps, and there was little difficulty as they descended into the darkness of the new apartment building they were all. In the stair well, with the remaining light, they could spot a few of the monsters, so they lured them out onto the roof where Aoi and Yasuhiro dealt with them quickly.

"The stairwell is clear," Yasuhiro called, though he kept his volume down, since he didn't want to alert the horde. The group slowly made their way inside, allowing their vision to adjust to the darkness before they moved on. "The stairwell is barricaded, so we can't go further down than this floor," He pointed out, a large couch had been pushed down the stairs taking up the entire stairwell, and they knew that any zombie would have a very difficult time trying to break through that.

They exited the stairs onto the highest floor of the apartment, and in the hallways they didn't spot a single undead monster. Seeing this as a good sign, they entered the first room that they could, and were again fortunate that the door was unlocked. The apartment was surprisingly clean, but despite the lack of evidence of one of the monsters appearing there, Kyoko forced them to look through every room as she locked the door.

Makoto opened a particular door, and his eyes suddenly widened, "Wha – Oh my god!" he cried, falling back onto his butt and looking with wide eyes into the bathroom he opened up. Though it was dark, he could see a two figures. The bigger one was holding the smaller figure in his chest – if Makoto had to guess, he'd say it was a father holding his child or something similar. However, what made him scream was the blood all over the wall behind their heads, where a bullet clearly went through. On the floor a few inches away from the father's hand was a pistol, unused since whenever the man decided to end it all with their child.

Aoi was the first to arrive, having heard Makoto's shout, and she couldn't help but gasp and cover her mouth with her hands in terror. Her eyes were wide, and began to fill with tears when she pieced together what happened. Yasuhiro had a very similar reaction to Makoto, except he was able to bite back his scream at least. Toko was smart, knowing by now what kind of reaction they had when they saw a dead body, and she stayed away, not wanting to faint and accidently switch her persona.

Byakuya was completely unaffected, and Kyoko looked only mildly disturbed and she began to shut the door. "Hold on," Byakuya told her, and he walked in and grabbed the pistol, "There's still some ammunition in this. It will provide a use to us, since the original owner is... no longer here." He stalked off, wandering to a separate part of the apartment, leaving the four of them there.

"Why would they do that?" Makoto asked, "He got into the bath with his kid, and he… Killed his kid… Then himself?" He looked repulsed, "What kind of man would do that?"

"It's terrible, but not as bad as you're thinking," Kyoko replied, shutting the door for good, "you probably missed it, but the child had a bite mark on his arm. The father probably fell into despair when he realized that his only child was doomed to become a monster, so he did this as a way to stay with his child forever."

Aoi looked sick, "But… That's…"

"Just how it is now," Kyoko finished for her, "The apartment is clear. The bedroom is surprisingly clean, so I'm going to go check the other apartments in this hall. Makoto, I highly suggest you get some rest, though that extends to all of you." She looked at Aoi and Yasuhiro as she said that, "Today was exhausting, and I have little doubt that tomorrow will be as well."

"How can she act like she didn't even see that?" Yasuhiro asked once Kyoko walked off. He crossed his arms and looked away from the door, even though it was closed and he wouldn't even be able to see the body, "That… That's going to keep me awake all night…"

"It did affect her," Makoto replied, standing up with the help of Aoi, "She's just very good at hiding her emotions, and she told me she has seen stuff like this before she went to Hope's Peak Academy with us."

"Seriously?" Aoi asked in surprise, "When?"

"Oh, I guess she never told you," He mumbled, "She's the ultimate detective. She told me that she has been solving crimes for a while now."

"That…" Yasuhiro muttered, "That explains so much."

"Yeah, no wonder she always knew what to do during the trials!" Aoi exclaimed, "We were really lucky to have her with us!" She forced on a smile, "A – Anyway, we really ought to go to bed. Makoto can sleep on the bed, I'll have the couch, and Hiro can sleep on the floor."

"H – Hey!" Yasuhiro exclaimed, "I don't want to sleep on the floor!"

Makoto chuckled as he walked with his friends into the bedroom, and looked around. The room was actually pretty big for an apartment, and the bed was even bigger than he thought it would be. On the nightstand next to the bed was a picture of a man and who he presumed to be the man's wife – where was she? He felt a pang of sadness inside of him when he realized that she probably never made it home… No wonder he fell into despair once his only child was bitten…

He reached over and put the frame down, being sure to hide the picture as he sat on the bed, "I don't mind if Hiro has one side of the bed, its way bigger than I have any need for."

"What?" Aoi exclaimed, "You'd offer it to him and not to me?" She crossed her arms, and her cheeks puffed up in a cute pout, "How could you?"

"Well…" Makoto blushed, and looked aside, "I mean… Well…"

"Geez Hina, I didn't realize that you and Makoto were like that!" Yasuhiro exclaimed, "You should've just said so!"

"Wait, what?" Her eyes widened as the implications of what she just said came to her, "N – No! We're not like that! I don't like him – no, I mean, I like him, but not in that way and…" Her entire face was red, "Stupid Hiro!" She quickly stomped off, leaving a chuckling Hiro sitting on the bed beside Makoto.

"You shouldn't be so mean to her, you know." Makoto sighed, "Though I guess that solves that issue." He took off his sweat soaked sweatshirt, and grimaced, wishing so badly he could take a shower, but… He couldn't even _think_ of the bathroom. Instead, he just laid down on the bed, and closed his eyes, and after all of the exhaustion from that day, he was out within seconds.

"Yeah, I'll apologize tomorrow," Yasuhiro replied, "But you know, I think she likes you! Lucky you! Do you want me to tell you your fortune?" He waited for a reply, and then looked back at Makoto, "Aw man, sleeping already?" He sighed, "Oh well, might as well go to sleep as well…"

Aoi ended up sleeping on the couch as she initially planned, while Kyoko, Byakuya, and Toko all scouted out another room and stayed in there, with Kyoko and Toko on the bed, with Byakuya occupying the couch.

Late at night, in the candlelight, Byakuya was reading the newspaper that Kyoko got her hands on. It talked about specific evacuation points, and where to go, and he grimaced at all the cities listed, knowing that all of them were probably in the same state as the one they were currently in. He had to find a path for them to follow, somewhere not so densely populated.

He hated to admit it, but he was beginning to get a little attached to these fools he was with, and he did want to try and get them all out… As much as they annoyed the hell out of him. Really, it was so they could potentially work for him, that's all. Kyoko's abilities were amazing, and Makoto was following in her footsteps quite well. Toko was annoying, but at least she was loyal and did as he asked. Aoi and Yasuhiro could provide manual labor, if nothing else.

He suddenly spotted an area they could go towards, a little costal town, but it was quite a distance away. Without the train or any cars to escort them there, they would be walking for at least two weeks minimum, but it was their best chance. He knew that the cities were a lost cause, so really, he had no choice.

"We'll set out early tomorrow morning," He mumbled, rubbing his eyes. With that done, he went to the couch, and laid down on it, closing his eyes from the exhausting day he had. It was best if he didn't think of what the next day would be like, he decided, since he knew it was probably going to be just as bad, or perhaps _worse_ than the day he already experienced.

This was their new life, and he supposed he ought to get used to it as soon as possible.


	2. City Escape

Chapter Two

City Escape

Makoto opened his eyes, and he let out a soft groan as he sat up, but he gritted his teeth when he suddenly felt a throb of pain shoot through him. He took a deep breath, and blinked a few times as he looked around the room, trying to figure out where in the world he was. This most definitely wasn't his room, and where was everyone? He closed his eyes, trying to recall, and then the previous day came back to him, and his eyes slowly widened as the memories came back. No… Please don't let it be true. It was all just a horrid nightmare, right? They escaped and the world was fine…

He got out of bed, and noticed his sweatshirt on the floor beside the bed right next to his sword, so he picked both of them up, but he refrained from putting them on quite yet, since he had no need to. He walked out into the hall, being sure to avoid the door he knew the bodies were in, and walked into the main room. There was a kitchen off to the side, and a couch in front of a TV on the opposite side of the room. The windows had light shining through, and he smiled at that at least – he still wasn't quite used to natural sunlight, and it felt so nice to be warmed by it.

"Good morning, Makoto." His head turned quickly towards the voice, and he noticed that Yasuhiro was sitting at the counter, his backpack open, and he was eating some canned food and some water from a water bottle. "Kyoko says to eat something, though keep in mind that we need to ration the food."

"Alright," He replied, he was actually starving, since he didn't eat much of anything the previous day, and what he did eat he ended up throwing up right after. He noticed his backpack was also on the counter, so he opened it up to get some food. As he was looking through the contents of the bag for the first time he asked, "Where's everyone else, and…" He didn't know how to ask it without him sounding insane, so he finally let it out, "And… Is everything real?"

Yasuhiro didn't seem to think the question was dumb, and he nodded, "Yeah… It's all real. The zombies are still out there in the streets, you can look if you want." He pointed to the windows by the couch, "And right now the rest are looking through the rest of the apartments on this floor, trying to find supplies for today."

"Oh," He mumbled, feeling numb. "I – I can't believe this is the world…"

"Trust me, man, I know how you feel." He shook his head, looking down at his food, "I was hoping everything Junko was saying was wrong, you know? Now though? I wish it was exactly as she said… This is so much worse than the picture she created. I thought we would be facing like… riots or something, you know? But not the freaking end of the world… Not zombies!"

"Yeah, I know. I never thought this could be possible either." He took a long drink from his water bottle, not realizing how incredibly thirsty he was until just then, and he let out a sigh as he finished.

"So… What do you think we're gonna do?" Yasuhiro asked, finishing up his meal and putting everything back into his backpack, "The streets are crawling with those monsters, so we'll have a hard time going through unnoticed…"

"Hopefully Kyoko or Byakuya can come up with something, I don't think I can do what I did yesterday, I still feel a little sick." Makoto revealed, "I wonder if we'll just stay here for another day or something… It seems safe."

"No." Yasuhiro shook his head, "I heard Kyoko and Byakuya discussing it earlier this morning, and I'm positive that we're moving out today. Byakuya seemed really intent on doing that, and he actually got Kyoko to agree with him."

"Really?" Makoto asked, "What did he say?"

"It makes sense, he explained it all to us and said that staying here is pointless. We'd just be wasting supplies, and the chance of rescue here are close to none." His eyes widened, "Oh yeah! He had a paper showing all of the evacuation centers, and he wanted us to go to one of them!"

"Seriously?!" Makoto asked, a smile working its way onto his face, "So there's still people out there?"

"Of course. What's even better is that the papers are dated only a few months ago!" Yasuhiro exclaimed, "So until recently, this city apparently wasn't taken over!"

"But wait… Didn't Toko say that she was fighting them _before_ she woke up in the 'game'?" He asked, his brows furrowing together in confusion, "So how is that possible?"

"I don't know," Yasuhiro muttered, "Maybe the outbreak occurred back then, but only now became an epidemic?" He shrugged, "You'll have to ask the others about that, I didn't really ask for the details."

"I might do that," Makoto muttered, "Do you think that maybe we'll be able to make a detour to my home?" He noticed Yasuhiro stilled beside him, "Hiro? What's up?"

"Huh?" He snapped out of it, "Nothing… I was just thinking of my family." He grimaced, "I just didn't really think of em, you know? Not with what's been going on lately…"

"I'm sorry," Makoto replied, feeling a bit of shame for reminding him of it, "Pretend I didn't say anything."

"Nah man, it's alright. I know you didn't mean anything by it." He sighed, and shrugged, "You'll have to ask Byakuya about it, but I think I know what he'll say…"

"It's a waste of time?" Makoto guessed. He saw Yasuhiro nod, and he let out a soft sigh, setting aside his food as he thought about it, "I know that they're probably dead now, but… I just have to see for myself. I still have this hope inside of me that they might be ok… I'd feel a lot better if I could confirm it for myself."

Yasuhiro nodded, "I see what you mean, yeah…" He stood up abruptly, "Anyway, I'm going to go check with the rest of them, you finish eating. We don't want you crapping out on us today!" He chuckled at his words, "And remember, ration your food! We don't wanna run out!"

Makoto waved to him as he left, and went back to eating his food afterwards. He felt the same way about Yasuhiro when it came to talking about their families, he just wanted to avoid the topic altogether, but… he just felt like he had to know. It would be best if all of them could get some kind of closure.

"But I don't even know if we're going to be going the right way." He grumbled dejectedly, forcing himself to eat the rest of his food, before he packed up his backpack, and put on his sweatshirt. He picked up his sword shortly after, and lifted it a few times to test the weight, and nodded approvingly. He then strapped it on his back, and made his way out of the room to find the rest of his friends.

The hallway wasn't entirely well lit, but that was to be expected since the power was out, though at least the sunlight lit it up somewhat. Still, he felt his senses heightening as he looked around and he crouched, ready to pull out his sword in an instant if he so much as heard a creak.

"What are you doing?"

Makoto wished he didn't jump so high, but the voice had come from practically nowhere, and he couldn't prevent the short scream he let out as he jumped at least a foot in the air. He whirled around to see who said that, and saw Aoi struggling not to laugh. "Don't sneak up on people like that!" He exclaimed, still feeling a little jittery as he straightened up, trying to look at least a little dignified.

"That was hilarious!" She continued to laugh, "I just came out here to get you, since Kyoko wanted to brief us all on what the plan is for today, but…" She couldn't stop laughing, and tears were beginning to form in her eyes, "You… Haha!"

He sighed, "Laugh it up…" He could practically feel his masculinity being crushed in the face of Aoi's laughter. "But seriously, I'm just really jumpy right now!" He snapped when she wouldn't stop laughing.

She nodded, her smile disappearing quickly, "Yeah… I know…" Suddenly she looked ashamed, "You're talking about the zombies, right?" She let out a sigh, "I'm sorry, you're right, I shouldn't have scared you like that."

He blinked at her apology, and fumbled a bit, "Um, well, uh…" He didn't expect her to genuinely look so guilty, "It's not a big deal, right? No one's hurt? Plus it got you to laugh, so that's a good thing!" he was trying desperately to make her smile again, since seeing her look so down was worse than how he was feeling before.

She did smile slightly, though she still looked a little dejected, "Heh, thanks…"

"Come on, I'm sorry for making you feel guilty." He finally broke down, screw his masculinity at this point – he couldn't bear to see her so down like this. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

Finally her smile returned in full bloom, much to his immense relief, "Do you really mean it?"

"Yes!" He exclaimed, glad to see her smiling again, "You can make fun of me all you want, I don't really care!"

"That's a weird thing for a boy to say, don't you think?" She asked, and then she chuckled at his confused look, "I mean telling me that I can make fun of you. Shouldn't you _not_ want me to make fun of you?"

"Well, I don't want to see you sad," He explained, suddenly feeling very self-conscious, "A – And… you helped me a lot yesterday, carrying me around that building… S – So I figured I might as well allow you to say what you want, right?" His face felt warm, at the admittance, and he looked down.

"Oh, uh…" Her face was now bright red as well, and she too looked to the ground, "I – I see. Well thanks… No, I mean… Not thank you, but uh…"

"If you two are quite done flirting with one another, we _need_ to get this meeting underway." Byakuya's voice cut across the tension around them, and it was the first time Makoto felt thankful for his interruption, but he also wanted to strangle him oddly enough. Pushing his conflicting emotions aside, Makoto nodded, watching Byakuya go back into the room the rest of the party was probably in.

"Well, we have go to, right?" He asked, and she quickly nodded, following him towards the room.

"Makoto, thank you." She whispered to him right as they entered the room, causing him to glance towards her. However, she was looking away, and he forced himself to focus on where he saw everyone gathered. In the middle of the room, everyone was gathered at a table, and on the table a newspaper was spread out, with certain spots X'ed out.

"Finally," Byakuya drawled out, "You two have quite the gall to make us wait this long."

"Well don't delay it anymore and just tell us what's up!" Aoi shot back, causing his face contort into a scowl, but he didn't retort.

He finally looked down at the newspaper, and pointed to a spot, "This is where we are, and according to this newspaper, this city is an evacuation zone."

"But… It's not a very good one, is it?" Yasuhiro muttered, "I mean, the dead are all over the place!"

"That's why we can safely assume that this city's evacuation zone is no longer operational," Kyoko spoke up, "If that's the case here, then we can also assume that any nearby cities are similarly infested. It's in our best interests to head somewhere that's not so densely populated."

"So where do you intend to go then?" Makoto asked, looking at the map, "That would make the nearest evacuation zone…"

"Here." Byakuya pointed to a town that was quite a long distance away, "it's safely out of the city, and it's nowhere near as populated. This is our best bet for getting evacuated." He then pulled out a separate map – a large paper map of the city, and set it down on the table, "Now, here is where we are right now." He pointed to a spot somewhere near the middle of the city.

"We're seriously only that far away from the Academy?" Aoi asked in shock, "It felt like we ran for miles!" According to the map, they were roughly half a mile away from the Academy they managed to escape from.

"With all of the cars in our way, along with the zombie horde that was pursuing us, we actually made a significantly good distance." Kyoko replied, "Today things will go more smoothly, assuming we don't attract the attention of so many of the monsters like we did yesterday."

"S – So what's our route out of the city?" Toko asked, looking down at the map curiously, "J – Just looking outside, Y – you can see all of them out there… walking around… wanting t – to kill us…"

"We plan to follow the main road," Byakuya pointed to a road that cut cleanly through the city, and it was also an easily identifiable way out. "If we follow this, we should be able to get out of the city in a day or two, assuming we don't run into too much… trouble."

"Is that really a good idea?" Makoto asked, "If it's the main road, it's bound to be the path that many people took to get into the city, and probably also the main path that they took to escape once they realized what was going on..."

"I raised the same objection as well, but…" She pulled out another sheet of paper, "Byakuya found this yesterday, and it tells us all about the monsters." It looked like a pamphlet, and it was almost laughable to Makoto that they would make something like that, but he nodded. "What I've learned from this is that the monsters seem to be unable to see us with their eyes."

"What?" Aoi asked in shock, "You mean they're blind?"

"That's _exactly_ what she means." Byakuya answered for Kyoko, "Their main method of tracking is by hearing. That is why so many of them were chasing us yesterday, it was probably due all of the noise we were making. The explosives, your idiotic screaming, it makes sense that they would come from all around to attack us."

"Does that pamphlet have any information on whether you can be saved if you're bitten or not?" Makoto asked curiously.

"It states that any bitten individuals should be brought to the nearest evacuation center as soon as possible, where they will be 'processed'." Kyoko replied, "If I had to guess, 'processed' probably means killed." She saw all of their faces turn to ones of horror, "The newspaper claims that it's an infection with no possible cure. If there's no cure to what those monsters are, wouldn't the best method to contain it be to kill everyone infected so it doesn't spread?"

"Not to mention that it spreads in many different ways. After reading this paper, I have a more clear view as to how society fell to this infection. A simple scratch is enough to infect you. These monsters may be slow, they may be stupid, but they don't have to do much before you also join their ranks." He allowed that to sink in before he continued on to the next part, "Which is why if _any_ of you get infected, I want you to tell me so I can shoot you." He pulled the pistol out from his pocket and set it on the table.

"Wh – What?!" Yasuhiro cried, "You just expect us to die? What about you?! What if you get infected?"

"I would expect no different treatment." He told him, "If I do get infected, I don't want to wander around aimlessly for the rest of my life. I want to die properly, and not be degraded in such a way!"

"And the same for me." Kyoko muttered quietly, "I don't want to die, but similar to Byakuya, I have no desire to be one of those monsters. If I'm infected, I expect you to kill me."

"But… I can't!" Makoto cried, "You're both my friends, we went through so much! There's no way I could kill you guys!"

"If you're truly our friend, as you say, then you'll do this for us." Byakuya dismissed his woes, "Furthermore, none of us _are_ infected, so don't you dare worry about something as inconsequential as this right now. I have no intention of letting one of those things touch me!"

"O – On a different note, Byakuya asked me to estimate how many days supplies we have, and I've determined with the amount of food we have, assuming we ration it and only eat twice a day, will last just about two weeks." Toko spoke up, not stuttering and she proudly stated what she discovered.

"Two weeks?" Aoi repeated, "That means even if we do get out of the city as fast as we can, there's no way we can make the food last until we make it to our destination! We'll starve before then!"

"A – Are you doubting my calculations?!" Toko gasped, glaring at the girl, "Y – You!"

"What? I'm not doubting your calculations, I'm just saying that we don't have enough food to last us the entire way!" Aoi exclaimed, looking at the girl in annoyance.

"Stop it, both of you." Byakuya broke the argument before it truly got anywhere, "I have no desire to hear your bickering!" Aoi glared at him while Toko blushed as she looked at him dreamily, "Do you not think we took that into account? We'll of course have to attempt to find food on the way. In this apartment alone we found several cans of food that we intend to bring with us for instance."

"Yasuhiro nodded, "That's good, now all we need is a shower, badly." No one could really deny that. None of them have showered for the past two days, and after yesterday's physical activities, they all smelled awful.

"Essentials first," Kyoko decided, "Once we're out of the city, we'll see about stopping somewhere to clean up."

"Out of the city?" Aoi gasped, "But… That will take another few days!"

"Deal with it," Byakuya growled, "I don't have time to worry about cleanliness as of now. Right now we _all_ need to focus on our survival, and we need to escape this hell hole." He started to pack up the maps and newspaper, and put them into his backpack, "If you're all done eating, then may I suggest we leave now?"

"Actually, I have a question," Makoto muttered, "I noticed that the direction we're going to is really close to my house… I was wondering if we could make a small detour to go there." He finally let it out, he only hoped Byakuya would be ok with it.

"A detour for us is absolutely unacceptable! You do realize this, don't you?" He asked, "We have limited food, and we have to walk on foot. We're incapable of making up any lost time, so do you think it's worth it to go to your parent's house?" He crossed his arms, "I'm sure you're as aware as all of us that our families are probably dead, right?"

A pained expression crossed the faces of almost everyone present, with the exception of Byakuya and Kyoko. "I – I know that, but they're outside of the city, maybe…" Makoto listed off a feeble excuse – even he was aware of how weak it was.

"If your family followed instructions, they probably evacuated to the city, since it was the closest possible location, and then while here, they either died, or managed to be evacuated. We can't really be sure, but given this infection – given the state of this city, do you honestly think that they are still at your home?"

"N – No, I can't say for sure, but maybe they left a message or something?" Makoto muttered, "Plus, don't you want to go to your home? How about the rest of you?" He turned to the group.

"My family is in a completely different city," Aoi muttered sadly.

"Yeah, m – mine are g – gone too." Toko muttered, "I came here from really far away…"

Yasuhiro nodded, "I'm in the same boat as Aoi. I transferred her to attend Hope's Peak Academy." He crossed his arms, and let out a sigh, a resigned expression on his face from remembering his family.

"As for me, I don't know if my family is alive, but right now, I'm more concerned about _our_ wellbeing to worry about that." He glared at Makoto, "So do you really want to be selfish and go to your home in a fruitless search, especially when none of us will be given the chance to do that?"

"Shut up Byakuya, who says you speak for me?" Aoi asked, glaring at the boy yet again, "I want to help Makoto. If he has the chance to go home, especially if it's close to our path, then why not?"

Yasuhiro suddenly nodded, "I agree with her! If I was in his position, I would want the same exact thing too!"

Kyoko smiled slightly, "And I'm with them. Byakuya, it appears that we'll have to make a slight detour after all."

Byakuya looked pissed, but he nodded, "Fine. We'll make a detour for Makoto's sake." He replied, giving into their demands, "But we'd better find something. If I find out you wasted out time, I won't be happy." He looked at the group assembled, and then said, "Now, let's move out. We've already wasted enough time talking." He started to lead the group towards the stairs without any delay.

In the back, Makoto smiled appreciatively at his friends who stood up for him, "I'm really thankful guys, seriously!" He exclaimed, but he sighed, "And… I'm really sorry about being so selfish. I know Byakuya is probably right, but… I've gotta see it!"

"If seeing your family is being selfish, then perhaps selfishness isn't all bad," Kyoko replied, "Now we ought to move, before Byakuya gets truly upset with us."

Aoi nodded, "Yeah, like Hiro said, if I was in your shoes, I'd want the same thing!"

Yasuhiro gave him a thumbs up, "Hey, you saved my ass a lot when I was accused of murder twice in that school, I think letting you do this is a good step towards paying you back!"

Makoto grinned at his friends, knowing that this would probably be the last time he'd smile all day, given what he was about to be subject to. "Thanks, guys. It means a lot to me to have you with me!"

After that, the group of six went up the stairs to the roof, where Byakuya led them over to a fire escape. "This is how we're getting out of here," He explained, "Once we're down on the ground, _do not _make a single noise." He emphasized it, hoping they'd get it. "The quieter we are, the smoother this will go." He looked down and cursed, "There's a few of them on the fire escape…"

"Here, let me." Aoi whispered, looking down. She got her bow pulled the string back, putting the titanium arrow in. She took a deep breath, and stilled herself. Seconds later, she released her hold on the string, and the arrow shot downward towards one of the zombies, and it piercing right through the head. The now dead zombie stopped all movement, and crumbled where it stood.

"A completely silent weapon." Kyoko mumbled, "If we can retrieve the arrows afterwards, Aoi's skills in archery will prove absolutely essential to us."

"I'll kill the other three, just give me a few minutes," Aoi replied, getting onto the fire escape and climbing down so she had a better shot on the other three. Within five minutes, she had dealt with them all, and they were all slowly making their way down the fire escape, trying not to make a single sound. Along the way, Aoi made sure to get her arrows out of the skulls of the zombies she shot, and she put them back into her collection.

"Toko, don't look at the bodies," Byakuya whispered urgently, "I don't want your split personality screaming and causing the horde to start chasing us today!" Though she was shaking, Toko nodded, and kept her eyes covered, which forced Makoto and Kyoko to guide her down safely, so she wouldn't injure herself.

On the ground, the group gathered together, Makoto unsheathing his sword and gripping it hard in his hand, shaking a bit as he heard the moaning from all around them. The reality of their situation hit him again – they were in danger now, and they had to be quiet. Forcing his breathing to relax, he watched as Byakuya looked out of the alley way they were in, and beckoned Aoi forward.

Readying another arrow, Aoi went up to him, and he pointed at several undead in the street that he wanted her to take down quietly. The street itself was, like the others, a complete mess. Cars were strewn about, some even flipped over, and at the intersection a little ways up, it looked like some sort of makeshift barricade, with a tank settled in the middle. Aoi's eyes widened in surprise at the tank, but she was forced back to the task at hand, and took a deep breath once more.

There were three undead on the path they needed to go along, and killing them silently with the bow would assure a safer passage. The first arrow went out, and it hit the zombie directly in the head. While crouching, Aoi started to move out slowly, getting another arrow ready in the bow as she eyed her next target. Seconds later, it too was down, and then not even another twenty seconds passed before she killed the next one.

"Follow me, and stay quiet." Byakuya told the group in a small voice, "Kyoko, since you only have a gun, I want you to guide Toko through here. Toko, I _order_ you not to open your eyes." Everyone nodded, and looking a bit pleased, Byakuya began to lead the group, walking pass a green-faced Aoi who was busy retrieving her arrows from the corpses.

They were slowly making their way to the intersection where the tank was, and as they got closer, they could see hundreds of corpses lying around, and within the barricade were about a dozen dead soldiers or so. They may have been taken out, but they certainly didn't go out without a fight. Walking pass the grisly scene, they passed the intersection, going down another street where Byakuya had to pause yet again.

Byakuya reached into his backpack and pulled out the city map from earlier, where he tried to assess their current location and make sure they were on their way to the main road. While he did this, the rest of the party just stared intently at the undead wandering around the road, stumbling over the debris and other trash lying around. They were all huddled along the sidewalk, practically pressing themselves against the building, and fortunately none of the monsters came close to them.

Byakuya nodded to himself, and put the map back, and then gestured for them to continue following him. Aoi was right behind him now, her bow ready to be used when needed, while Yasuhiro was behind her. Following up was Kyoko guiding Toko, and at the back was Makoto, making sure no harm would come to the two girls in front of him. They came to another intersection, again barricaded, so they made their way around it like the one before, since climbing over it would create too much noise.

For another hour this went on, Byakuya would take frequent breaks to make sure they were going the right way, and the rest would stay quiet. Occasionally Aoi would take one out with her bow and arrows, but for the most part, they just stayed silent, knowing that it wouldn't attract any of the zombies to them as long as they didn't make any noise. Finally, after walking for so long, they came up to an elevated road, which Makoto could only assume was the main road – a highway – that Byakuya and Kyoko were talking about earlier.

"There should be a ramp to get up somewhere around here…" Byakuya mumbled, looking up and down the road. He shook his head, "We'll take a short break, so go there." He pointed to underside of the highway, where Makoto could see some graffiti. If it weren't the apocalypse, he would be hesitant to go there, since he got the feeling that is where the 'rough' crowd would hang out. Now however, it looked like a good shelter, since there were relatively few undead wandering the area.

They had to climb over a small iron fence that was there to prevent cars from going to the area, and then they cross some train tracks. Makoto looked up and down the tracks, wondering how long it was since a train had actually come across. Shaking his head, he continued to follow the group, and they finally stopped under the road. As expected, there was some graffiti there, and there were also a few of the undead there, which Aoi made quick work of.

"Ok," Byakuya spoke up, looking around at the group, "We should be safe to talk at a reasonable level right now," He told the group, "But I'd prefer if you stayed silent, honestly."

"Where to next?" Makoto asked, "You said something about a ramp, right?"

"Correct." Byakuya nodded, "we're currently below the main road of the city, and we need to find either an exit or entrance ramp and get up there." He looked upward, "Once there, I think we'll be better off." Byakuya almost never said 'I think' so hearing that from him did little to ease Makoto's nerves. Still, he leaned against the concrete stand holding the road up, and slid down into a sitting position. He set his sword aside, and closed his eyes.

Kyoko meanwhile set Toko aside, and was scouting the perimeter, making sure they were safe. Byakuya took the time to sit down as far away as he could possibly get from the others, and he was again looking at his map. Yasuhiro, along with Toko and Aoi all sat down with Makoto.

"Y – You're pretty good with that bow," Toko started up some conversation between them, "I – It figures a – a barbarian like you would be."

"Wh – What?!" Aoi cried, looking at her with a heated glare, "You know, you could at least _try_ to compliment me without tying it in with an insult!"

Yasuhiro and Makoto, who were sitting together, just watched the two girls begin to argue with mild interest. In a way it was comforting to see, since it meant some things were still the same. Though it definitely did get a bit grating after a while.

"Look, Hina," Makoto finally spoke up after the girls had been bickering for a few minutes, "Toko is just a little socially awkward, she was trying to be nice with her comment, right?" He looked to Toko pleadingly, hoping the girl would argue back.

"S – Socially awkward?" She grumbled, biting her nail, "Y – You think I'm socially awkward?! W – Well you're not so s – special yourself." Toko trembled as she said that.

"W – Well…" Makoto looked to Yasuhiro or Aoi for help, but both of them shook their heads. They were both traitors, leaving him to fend her off on his own! Argh, he focused his mind back on the task at hand, "What I meant to say was that you were just complimenting her and that she shouldn't have taken it personally, right?"

"But she called me a barbarian!" Aoi exclaimed, "How am I supposed to take that as a compliment?"

Makoto couldn't really argue with that, so he decided to focus on the other point, "Well… Yeah, she did say that, but she also said you were good with the bow, right? That has to count for something. I can't recall if Toko _ever_ complimented me."

"Or me!" Yasuhiro finally piped in.

"I wouldn't have anything to say to you, idiot…" Toko replied the moment Yasuhiro spoke up, causing the boy to look down to the ground dejectedly, "A – And Makoto, you are t – talking like I'm not even here!"

Makoto sighed, there was just no way to win with this girl, was there? "Yeah, I was, sorry about that." He said, trying to defuse the situation before it could get out of control, and before Toko went into one of her long rants.

"Break time's over," Byakuya stood up, and took one more glance at his map, before placing it into his bag, "I've had enough of listening to you all prattle on about nothing." Aoi gave him another glare, and she got up, holding her bow, while Yasuhiro just looked pleased that the argument ended. Toko, as usual, went over to Byakuya like a lost puppy.

Makoto sat there and frowned, worried about their group dynamics. He, Aoi, Yasuhiro, and Kyoko all got along well enough, but Byakuya and Toko were both a real issue. He didn't really mind them, but he could tell that Aoi disliked both of them a lot, and most of the group outside of himself and Kyoko didn't really value Yasuhiro's opinions… It was even apparent that there was a tension between Byakuya and Kyoko, at least one sided, as far as Makoto noticed, since he knew Byakuya wanted to lead the group, but everyone respected Kyoko more…

He ran a hand through his hair, wishing that they were all just best friends and could be fine with one another. He was just glad that everyone understood that in order to survive, they needed everyone in the group, since they all carried their weight. He and Yasuhiro were both surprisingly good with the blades they carried, while Aoi was invaluable with her bow and arrows. While Toko wasn't too effective, her alternate personality was also an invaluable tool when dealing with the undead. Furthermore, while Byakuya might not like it, he _had_ to know that Kyoko's insights and guidance were often useful to follow.

"Hey, Makoto, you're gonna be left behind if you stay there any longer!" He snapped out of his thoughts, and looked up to see Yasuhiro holding out his hand, which Makoto smiled and grabbed, allowing him to pull him to his feet. He gripped his sword, and quickly made his way back to the group with Yasuhiro at his side.

Byakuya looked a little disgruntled, but he didn't say anything as the group finally formed together again, and they just began to follow the main road until they could find a ramp to climb up. Along the way, Aoi made use of her bow and arrows again, while Makoto again protected Kyoko and Toko. Within a half hour, they finally came upon the first ramp, and… it was a disaster.

Cars were piled up on one another, and it even looked like some cars were tipped over the ramp and smashed into the ground. They could smell the horrible stench of rot and decay stronger than usual here, and they knew that a _lot_ of people must have died trying to escape the city. Makoto did his best not to gag as he followed Byakuya's lead towards the ramp entrance, and slowly they made their way up.

They had to climb over a lot of vehicles and there was twisted metal all over the place. One wrong step, or a simple slip would be very damaging, so they went slow, and helped each other out when needed. Kyoko was the last one up, after forcing Toko to go ahead of her. The climb was hazardous, but they finally made it up after ten minutes. Makoto held out his hand for Kyoko to grab onto, and he helped her jump down from the car she was atop of.

"Holy shit…" Yasuhiro's voice echoed across the wind as Makoto finally looked up, and he felt his jaw dropping as he took in the site before him. There were _thousands_ of cars on the road – the highway had six lanes gone each way, and all twelve of them were completely full to the brim with cars, there was hardly any space in between them. It looked like the worst traffic he had ever seen, but he knew that these cars wouldn't ever be going anywhere again.

"Once the city started to get infected, these people were trying to flee," Kyoko spoke up from beside Makoto, surveying the roads, "However, it appears that they tried leaving too late. Notice how some cars contain the undead within them?" She pointed to a red sports car that they were sitting right next to, and indeed, buckled into the driver's seat was one of the undead monsters. "It's clear that people knew that the evacuation centers must have killed the infected, so in their denial they tried to flee, and in doing so they blocked the way out for others thinking the same."

"Can we really follow this road?" Aoi asked, "There's hardly anywhere for us to walk, we're going to have to walk on top of cars more often than not…"

"It could potentially be dangerous as well," Kyoko mumbled thoughtfully to herself, her gloved hand rubbing her chin, "With so many cars it will be very difficult to see the undead before they hear us, and we'll be making a lot of noise climbing over all of this." She turned to Byakuya, "What do you think?"

He didn't look pleased at all about the state of the road, but he glared down at the ground, biting back his first instinctive reply, and slowly said, "Is this any better than walking down there?" He motioned towards the city roads below, "The detour we'd have to take to get to the same spot this road exits is massive, and would delay us by a few days."

"But climbing over these cars is going to delay us too, right?" Makoto asked, pointing out the obvious.

"Yes, obviously," Byakuya drawled out, "But I think it would still be faster to go this way. We have to take our food supplies into account. We can't afford to waste time with pointless detours." He said that, giving Makoto a pointed look, but saying nothing on the matter of Makoto's family, "Unless if you have a better idea, this is still our best option."

"B – But… there's those monsters in the cars, and… they might be under…" Toko pointed out weakly, not really wanting to go against Byakuya, but feeling the need to point it out.

"We're smarter than them, if they're coming for you, climb atop a vehicle, they won't be able to get to you there." He told her, "If you guys are against this plan, then go your own way, but this is where I'm heading."

"W – We can't split up!" Makoto cried, a bit louder than he really wanted to, "We _need_ each other to survive!"

"Precisely," Byakuya replied, adjusting his glasses, and a smug look crossed his face, "If you want to live, you'll follow me, because we're not going any other route through the city."

"Why are you such a jerk?" Aoi asked, grinding her teeth together as she looked at him, "Why can't you accept that other people have different opinions than you?!"

"Because those other people will wind up dead. Kyoko, surely you agree with my assessment?" He turned to look at the pink haired girl, who gave him a long stare.

Finally Kyoko sighed, "It probably will be safest to travel along this road as Byakuya stated. We'll just have to be careful, if we're doing this, I want Hiro on point, since he can stab the monsters in close range with his knives, and I want Aoi behind him, being sure to pick off any of the monsters that are far enough away but in our path."

"Fair enough," Byakuya agreed, "Then that's why we're doing this, any _other_ objections?"

No one raised anymore objections, though Aoi looked a little put off that Kyoko sided with Byakuya. Regardless, she got in her position near the front, and the group slowly moved through the colossal mess of cars in their path. Yasuhiro killing a few every now and then, though Aoi did most of the work, stopping the group frequently so she could kill a zombie further ahead of the group.

The rest of the day passed much like this, and Makoto knew that he was going to be sunburned by staying out for so long. After a while he put his sword back in its sheath, since he really hadn't used it at all that day, and both Aoi and Yasuhiro were doing a good job of clearing a path. They took a few breaks every now and then, hiding in the shade of the vehicles from the overbearing sun, but other than that, they never stopped.

It was _finally_ when the sky was beginning to turn a shade of orange that Byakuya called for them to exit at the next ramp and hide out in a building. Like the previous ramp, this one was jammed full of cars, though it was a lot easier to go down than it was to go up. Upon reaching the lower road, they went to the nearest building, which just so happened to be an office building.

"Makoto, Hiro, you two go barricade the entrance," Byakuya immediately got to work ordering them around, "Kyoko, Hina, scout the building to make sure it's safe. Toko, just stay out of the way. I'm going to look around for a little bit." Immediately everyone got to their assigned tasks, though Toko looked a little lost.

"Hey, Toko," Makoto called, "Help out Hiro and I, will you?" She looked upset, but Makoto was sure that inside she was happy that _someone _needed her help and she could do something. Ten minutes later, the three of them were finished shoving up all the furniture in the welcoming room against the door.

The building was just a typical office building. Directly ahead of the entry was a receptionist desk, where Makoto assumed people would make appointments or something. Immediately to the left was where visitors would wait, with all the chairs and tables there used to barricade the door. To the right there were some bathrooms, and on the far wall near the receptionist desk, Makoto could see elevators, which he was certain weren't operational anymore, and on the other side of the receptionist desk were a few doors, one of which must have been the stairs.

There wasn't a single sound, and it put Makoto on edge, he didn't want to draw his sword, since that would alarm his companions, but he wished someone would talk to break the silence. The only noise was the soft sound of Byakuya shifting through papers behind the receptionist desk, probably trying to figure out what the building was prior, or trying to find ways to access offices and the like.

Makoto let out a sigh of relief when he saw both Aoi and Kyoko come back through one of the doors. He had been worried about them being alone. The two girls walked over to Byakuya, and since he, Toko, and Yasuhiro were all sitting at the visitors spot, they couldn't hear a single word of the conversation. Fortunately, Aoi made her way over, jogging a little bit and looking somewhat happy.

"There's a lot of offices upstairs," She started, "There were a few of 'them' around, but they're gone now. Good news though – some of the offices have cots in them that we can use. They were probably left here by some employees who slept at work occasionally." She let out a sigh, "We only cleared the second floor though, and Kyoko told me that we ought to barricade the door leading to the higher floors, which I agreed to. That's what took us so long, plus Kyoko wanted to do another quick sweep of the floor before coming down."

"You can always rely on Kyoko to be thorough." Makoto replied, feeling much safer after knowing all of that, "So there's enough room for each of us to have an office of our own?"

"Yep!" She nodded, "Some of the windows are broken and there's a lot of glass on the floor by them, so stay away from that, but otherwise, it's safe as far as we can tell."

Makoto felt himself relaxing, glad to know that they were done dealing with the undead for the day. Even though he didn't use his sword once that day, he still felt tired, "Then should we go up and eat dinner before heading to bed?" He asked, glancing out the front windows of the office to the streets, where he could see the monsters wandering around, oblivious to their presence.

Aoi looked out too, and frowned, "Yeah… We can. We should do it soon too, Kyoko says we have an hour of daylight left before it gets too dark to see."

None of them had any argument to that, and the four of them walked over to Byakuya and Kyoko, who were silently discussing something with one another. "What's the plan?" Makoto asked upon reaching them.

"We'll rest here for the night." Byakuya replied, "Do not under any circumstances try to go to a higher floor than the one that Kyoko and Aoi cleared, is that understood? Furthermore, everyone be sure to lock your office doors at night, that way one of those monsters won't be able to get in."

"I disagree with that!" Makoto replied quickly, "They're too dumb to open doors, if they were smart enough then that barricade at the front door couldn't possibly be enough."

"I agree with Makoto on this." Kyoko replied, nodding approvingly at him, "We've already observed their behavior, and know their limitations, locking the doors will do nothing but inhibit us, not them."

Byakuya nodded slowly, 'Very well, I suppose leaving them unlocked is acceptable." He then pointed to the bathrooms, "If you need to use the restrooms, make sure to come down and use those ones, plumbing doesn't work, and I don't want the smell reaching anywhere near where we're sleeping, got it?"

Everyone nodded to that, and soon they were all going upstairs. The room was just a generic office, there were many cubicles, or what used to be cubicles anyway, since a lot of the walls separating them were torn down. They could see all sorts of office supplies on the desks, and many computers which would probably never be activated again. Off to one corner of the room were a bunch of corpses, probably due to Aoi and Kyoko moving them there. He only hoped that the smell wouldn't be so strong he couldn't sleep.

The group all got some chairs, and gathered around a table, and everyone began to eat their rationed food. Most of them ate silently, though Byakuya opened up his map and studied it as he ate. Makoto was sure that he knew where they were going, but Byakuya, the perfectionist that he was, just had to check his work over and over again. Makoto meanwhile started to let his eyes wander around the office.

Seeing everything in such disarray, seeing the blood splattered on the floor, the windows smashed out, the computers cracked and unused, and tables flipped and knocked over just made him feel sad. Once upon a time this was where people would work and meet up. Their computers worked reliably, they had friends to talk to here, and it was a place of order… Now it was nothing more than a chaotic mess.

"It's sad, isn't it?" Kyoko's soft voice broke him out of his thoughts, "To see everything in ruin…" She frowned – the first visible emotion he'd seen on her face in a while, "We have yet to meet a single living human being, it makes you wonder if we're the only ones left."

"We can't be!" Aoi exclaimed, "There has to be others out there! Like, isn't it mathematically impossible for us to be the only ones left? Also, didn't Junko say something about airing what was happening to us to the world? Whatever happened to that?"

"Junko may have been in a similar position as we were," Kyoko replied, though she looked thoughtfully towards the ceiling as she stated that.

"Huh? You mean that she didn't have access to the outside world?" Yasuhiro asked, entering into the conversation as well.

"Yes, that's what I'm saying." Kyoko answered, "Once we agreed to be locked up in there, I believe everyone, including Junko, lost all contact with the outside world."

"If we go by what Genocide Jill told us, she was dealing with the zombies _before_ we lost our memories, right?" Makoto asked, "So I think it's safe to assume that whatever the Tragedy was a year ago, it involved this outbreak."

"I – If that's the case, then why would Junko bother broadcasting it to the world? Wouldn't she know that it was pointless?" Toko asked, looking between them all.

"I don't think so," Makoto mumbled, looking down at his food, "I think back then it must have not been as bad as it is now. Maybe it was being contained at the time, and all order wasn't lost yet. Plus, like Kyoko said, if she was locked in with us, she really couldn't know the state of the world either before she started that broadcast."

"It would also explain why we would all agree to stay at the school forever," Aoi pointed out, "Maybe we all knew it was the inevitable result of the outbreak."

"Perhaps," Kyoko nodded, acknowledging the possibility, "Though it's difficult to say without our memories."

"Do you think we'll _ever_ recall those two years we lost?" Makoto asked, his eyes looking at all of them, "No matter how hard I try, I just can't recall it at all…"

"Well… Does it even matter anymore?" Yasuhiro asked, "I mean, I know I hate forgetting so much of my life, but given what Junko told us…"

"Y – You mean the fact that we were all friends b – before the game, right?" Toko asked. "I've been wondering the s – same thing myself."

Makoto felt the same blood chilling feeling he had when Junko revealed that bit of information to him, and he found himself unable to stop thinking about it… What awful person would force friends to murder each other? How could Junko do that? Why?

Aoi must have noticed the depressed look on his face, because she reached over and pat him on the back, "Hey, it's not all bad, right? We're all alive, and we're all friends!"

"Well, mostly," Yasuhiro eyed Byakuya who was still ignoring them off to the side. "Yeah, just try not to think about it Makoto… It might be best that we just don't remember at all." He spoke seriously, which caused Aoi and Toko to look at him in surprise, "Wh – what?"

"I – I don't think I've e – ever heard you say something s – serious before." Toko mumbled.

"What? I've said plenty of things seriously!" Yasuhiro exclaimed, crossing his arms defiantly as he looked at the girls.

"I think she meant something serious that _wasn't_ stupid." Aoi replied. She saw he was about to protest, and she quickly pointed to Kyoko, "Remember when you thought she was a ghost? How in the world could you think something like that when she was right there?!"

"I'm curious to know as well," Kyoko replied, a gleeful glint in her eyes, "I've never been accused of being a ghost before. It was honestly quite… refreshing, to be honest."

"Oh come on!" Yasuhiro exclaimed, "Ghosts totally exist!"

"No they d – don't," Toko replied, "O – only an idiot would think so!"

"Oh yeah? Then what about those zombies, huh? No one thought they were real, but look out there now!" He pointed out the destroyed windows, and then crossed his arms in a triumphant gesture.

Aoi opened and closed her mouth, and traded a look with Toko. "Huh, I guess you've got a point there."

"Y – You're still an idiot t – though." Toko added quickly, right before Yasuhiro was about to get a big head about things.

Makoto chuckled at seeing his friends talk among each other, and he found it quite interesting how Aoi and Toko seemed to unite only when it came to making fun of Yasuhiro. Even Kyoko looked a little less tense than she did earlier, a small but pleasant smile was gracing her face. He was just glad that he could be with his friends, and just for a moment forget about the horrors of the real world.

Byakuya abruptly stood from his chair, "I'm going to my room. Do not disturb me, please." He stalked off to one of the many doors leading to offices, and closed it behind him. Leaving the five of them alone.

"Well, I guess that's our cue to go to bed as well," Aoi grumbled, getting up and zipping his backpack up, "I'm going to turn in too."

Makoto waved good bye to the rest of his friends as they too started to go off to bed, leaving only him and Kyoko left. He turned to look at her, and he grinned, "They're fun to be around when we don't have to worry about anything."

"Yes, they are." She replied, "I wonder if this is what it was like when we were in school together." She looked out the window wistfully, "If the ultimate despair hadn't have ruined things, I wonder if our lives together would have been this happy all the time."

The last rays of sunlight were beaming through the window as it slowly set, and Makoto looked out as well, "I think we were like this in school, it just feels natural, right?" He said after a little time had passed, "And it's no use wondering that, right? Of course it would have been happy, we were all friends."

"Yes, I suppose so." She got up, dusting off her lap, "I'm going to bed as well. Please be careful out here, though please go to bed soon. We all need to be at fighting strength tomorrow morning."

"I'll do that," He replied, smiling at her as he waved, "Good night!"

She gave a short wave to him, before also walking off. He watched her until she was out of sight, and then he sighed, looking out the window yet again as the sunlight slowly disappeared. Perhaps Yasuhiro was right, maybe it was best that they never remembered, it would do them no good, and would only cause them to grieve. Plus, they had other things to worry about now…

"It's best to leave the past in the past," He decided, "We have to look forward." He didn't need to remember, because he had his friends with him now, and they were going to go forward together.


	3. Dead Highway

Chapter Three

Dead Highway

Two days later, they were finally exiting the city limits, though they were still far from being out of danger. Like before, Aoi and Yasuhiro would lead the group through the field of cars with the corpses strewn all about, either under the vehicles, inside them, or crushed between the cars and rubble. The tall skyscrapers were becoming smaller and smaller as they got further away, and for the first time, Makoto started to feel a bit better about their plans. They were away from the gigantic horde that chased them the first day they exited the Academy, and they still had several very powerful weapons unused – Byakuya's three remaining bombs and the pistol he obtained, as well as the gun Kyoko retrieved from the headmaster.

Toko had yet to revert back to her Genocide Jill personality, which was both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because Toko was a lot more silent when she was herself, but also a curse in that she was also significantly less helpful without her murderous persona killing all of the zombies in her path. Also, as was becoming more usual now, Kyoko was often leading a blind Toko through the dangerous obstacles in front of them.

The good news about leaving the city was that the amount of cars on the highway wasn't as dense, which also made it easier to navigate. The bad news was that it was also where a bunch of undead would cluster, since they couldn't really move anywhere else very efficiently. Still, it gave Makoto a good workout with his sword at least, and any experience he could get with his weapon was better than nothing, at least, that is what he told himself to try and make himself feel better.

Makoto lifted his hand and blocked the sun out, he knew that he was getting sunburned – everyone was – and he was beginning to sweat again. Everyone had begun to wear less clothing as they traveled on the highway. He took off his sweatshirt, and tied it around his waist, and he knew Yasuhiro did so as well, taking off the layers and tying them around his waist too. Byakuya removed his suit top, leaving his button up shirt on as he followed Makoto's idea and tied the suit around his waist.

Aoi meanwhile had removed her red sweat shirt, and considering she was only wearing a tank top and short shorts, Makoto had to look away from her more often than not. He wasn't sure if she realized just how provocative she looked, though he was glad that Yasuhiro seemed to be just as flustered. Byakuya, as usual was unaffected. Kyoko meanwhile had removed her jacket, but kept her gloves on. Toko was the only one who didn't remove any clothing.

They might have made themselves more vulnerable to being bitten, but Makoto figured that it was a good price to pay, since heat exhaustion was a real threat as they continued to go down the highway, the sun battering down on them the entire way. His throat was always so dry, but he knew he couldn't just drink the water whenever he wanted. They were rationing it, of course, but still, he wished they would somehow come across a river or stream.

He was interrupted from his thoughts as Byakuya called out to them to rest for a bit. He nodded, wiping the sweat away from his brow, and he went over to a camper, and made sure that there were no zombies underneath it. After checking once, and then twice more, he sat down in the shade, just trying to cool off.

Aoi and Yasuhiro joined him seconds later, and Makoto made sure to focus on Yasuhiro. He didn't want Aoi to think that he was a pervert as he watch the outlines of her… Damn it. He shook his head, "How much longer do we need to travel on this road?" He asked, trying to keep his mind off of both Aoi and the heat.

"According to Byakuya, we'll be on this road for a long time. It goes directly towards the town he wants us to go to." Aoi explained, "You saw the map, right?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I did… but… we seriously can't walk on here day in and day out. Climbing on all these cars and standing in the sun all day is killing me."

"Not as much as we're killing the zombies," Yasuhiro cracked, and he let out a forced laugh as both Aoi and Makoto gave him an unamused glance, "Hey… Just trying to make a joke."

"If that's the quality of your jokes, then maybe you should just keep quiet." Aoi replied, "I'm too tired for that crap." She leaned back on her hands, her bow at her side as she just took a few deep gulps of air.

"Sorry," Yasuhiro sighed, though he too was exhausted. Both of them were leading the group the entire way, so it was only natural that they would be the most tired.

"Maybe I can try taking the lead now?" Makoto suggested, "You two can just stay in the back and rest for a bit."

"Man, if you could convince Byakuya to do that, I'd love you forever." Yasuhiro exclaimed, "I'd even let you borrow my knives."

"_Your_ knives?" Aoi muttered, "You got them from the school, they're hardly yours."

"Hey, no one was using them," Yasuhiro defended himself immediately, "If I didn't take them, then they would have just been unused for the rest of their lives, and isn't that just sad?"

Aoi rolled her eyes, "Whatever." She then turned to look back at Makoto, "But if you're willing to lead, that would be fine with me, though I don't think anyone else is very good with the bow like I am, so I'll probably still have to back you up."

"If it makes you feel better, the sun is going to set in a few hours, so it won't be for much longer." Yasuhiro pointed out, pointing to the sun as it was slowly beginning to dip to the west.

"_Just_ a few hours more, oh joy." Aoi grumbled. She didn't have any more time to talk, as all three of them suddenly heard the moan of one of the zombies nearby. Having been around them long enough, Makoto jumped to his feet, his sword at his side and ready within seconds, Aoi likewise was on her feet, an arrow ready to fire at a second's notice, while Yasuhiro held the survival knife in his hand, looking around for the source of the noise.

"Over here!" Kyoko called, beckoning Makoto over, she pointed to a zombie crawling out from under a car towards them, though it was very slow. One of its arms was completely missing, and both of its legs were broken. It was so decayed looking that Makoto couldn't identify what gender it used to be.

"I've got this," He told his friends, and he jogged over to Kyoko, and with a fluid motion, he jabbed his sword at the monster, killing it with a practiced motion. He briefly wondered if it was a good thing that he was beginning to get used to killing these things, but he pushed that disturbing thought away, not wanting to think on it.

Toko saw the monster being killed, and for the first time in a while, she fainted. She would have hit her head against the ground of Yasuhiro didn't dart over and catch her, despite the fact that Byakuya was standing right there and was easily capable of catching her.

"Well, I suppose we'll have to welcome Toko's other personality," Byakuya grumbled, looking less than pleased with this development, "I just hope she doesn't shout and alert every one of those monsters within a mile radius of where we are." In the meantime, he looked down at his bag containing the bombs he still held, ready to use them if the need for it came.

As expected, the murderous girl shot to her feet almost instantly, and she looked all around herself to get a grasp of where she was. "Where am I?" She asked the nearest person, who just happened to be Yasuhiro.

"Uh, we're out of the city now, and we're headin towards the evacuation zone." He explained, wanting the attention of the girl off of him.

Genocide Jill eyed him for a moment, before smiling and laughing quite loudly, "Hah! I see! Then somehow my other half was able to survive? Then where's master?"

"Right here you obnoxious idiot!" Byakuya growled, from just beside her, "I've been here the whole time – you even _looked_ at me when you were craning your neck all over the place." He was always close to losing his patience when it came to Toko, and especially when she was like this.

"Ah! Master!" She shouted, causing everyone in the group to cringe. Even Kyoko squinted her eyes a bit, which was more of a reaction than Makoto expected out of her.

"Be quiet you imbecile!" Byakuya shouted back at her, equaling her loudness just as easily. Makoto wanted to point out that he was just adding to the problem, but really, he didn't want his wrath on him, and they had a bigger issue to deal with. All around them they could hear moans of the undead nearing, and Makoto held out his sword in front of him and he backed up towards the group.

"We ought to move," Aoi whispered urgently, seeing movement coming from the cars, "We're just sitting ducks out here!"

"It's too dangerous," Kyoko denied, "We'll need to clear them out. Hopefully Toko and Byakuya didn't attract that many to us, and if they did, we'll just have to clear our way through these monsters like we did the first day."

"B – But it won't be like that, right?" Makoto asked, "We're out of the city, so it shouldn't be that many…"

Yasuhiro looked up and down the six lane highway and grimaced, "Uh, yeah, I don't know about that." He was shaking, but like always, he forced himself to stop and pulled out his knife.

"We don't have time to deal with this," Byakuya exclaimed, pulling out one of his precious bombs, "This will distract them, and then we'll make our get away." He activated it, and threw it carelessly towards the direction they were headed away from. A scant few seconds passed before the explosion occurred, and Makoto watched in fascination as one of the cars near the explosion started to create a _huge_ ruckus, the car alarm going off.

Byakuya smiled briefly, "Good. That will distract them. Toko, lead the way, and kill any in our path!"

"Yes master!" The insane girl exclaimed, pulling out her scissors and she began to shred through the zombies, climbing atop cars and in general leading the group away. The car alarm fortunately attracted almost all of the undead, and for the most part, unless if they were right on top of the undead horde, they were ignored by the undead in favor of the loud noise behind them.

Still, it was very disturbing to be walking so closely among them and be ignored, Makoto had to hold in several gasps and yelps of terror as he walked so close to the rotting dead. Some of them were so badly torn apart that they hardly resembled humans anymore, and more disturbing than that were the smaller ones – they were children once who relied on their parents to rescue them from the chaos around them, and in the end, they died a horrid death… He shook his head violently to the side, wanting such thought to leave his mind, and instead he forced himself to focus on following the rest of the group.

They didn't slow down at all for at least a half hour, not until the wailing of the car alarm was just a distant murmur. The undead around them were still restless, but as long as they stayed quiet, it shouldn't be too bad. Makoto watched Byakuya take Toko aside for a bit so he could explain the situation to her other personality, while everyone else tried to catch their breath from the close call.

"I really hope we don't have to do that again," Makoto mumbled to Kyoko as he sat down on the hood of a car beside her, "I'm still shaking from walking so close to those monsters…"

"I agree," Kyoko replied evenly, still showing no emotion. Makoto _knew_ that she was probably scared, but like always, she chose to hide her emotions. "Hopefully Byakuya can keep Toko's other personality quiet for the time being."

"Yeah…" Makoto gasped, closing his eyes briefly as he looked up to the sun to try and determine how much longer in the day they had.

"Another two hours or so," Kyoko helpfully supplied him when she noticed what he was doing, "After that we're going to get off the highway and try to find some shelter for the night."

"Now that we're out of the city, I wonder if we'll run into some people." Makoto wondered, "We still haven't seen any signs of life at all."

"We've only been out for four days, and there's much we need to learn about this world still." Kyoko said, crossing her arms as she simply watched Byakuya and Toko continue talking.

"That's true," Makoto acknowledged. All of the media they've found was dated to a few months ago, so they still couldn't find many concrete details on where to go or what to do. "I just hope we find someone soon."

"Me too," Kyoko agreed, watching as Byakuya started walking back towards them with Toko in tow, who looked incredibly happy as she usually was.

"We'll proceed moving on from here on out, Toko will lead the group now, Hiro and Hina, you two can rest." He told both of them, "Makoto, I want you up front with Toko just in case, we don't want any of them slipping through and potentially harming us in the back." He adjusted the weight of his backpack quickly, and nodded his head, "Let's move, come on."

A few hours later, they were off the highway, and looking around a smaller town for a safe place to rest. Most of the buildings in the town were roughly four of five stories tall, and it was a lot less densely populated than the city. However, the party of six was still very careful as they wandered through the streets. Unlike the city and highway, the streets here weren't completely wrecked, and they could walk along them with relative ease. Still, Byakuya demanded that they keep their formation up, and none of them were willing to argue, since they knew how important it was.

It was a positive sign that there was less of the undead wandering around the streets however, and Genocide Jill was killing any of the undead that so much as looked at them funny. Fortunately she was quiet due to whatever Byakuya said to her, so really, they just left her up to her own devices.

"Here," Kyoko stopped the group in front of what looked to be a motor hotel that was just outside of the town, and relatively close to the highway. The building was long, with only two floors, and there were a few cars parked out front, but no zombies from what they could see. "I'll go explore the main office, you stay out here and look around."

The offices were a completely separate building, where the people renting a room would get a key to go to their room. "Hold on," Makoto rushed over to her, "You shouldn't go in alone, it could be dangerous."

She nodded, "Very well, then let's go together." With that, she set a brisk pace which Makoto had a difficult time keeping up with, but soon they were inside the building, looking around. The entire office was completely wrecked, almost every single window in the room was destroyed, and the furniture was tossed around hap hazardously, if Makoto had to guess, he'd say a huge fight broke out in here. There were a few televisions hanging from the ceiling, but none of them were working, as expected. After looking around a bit longer, he followed Kyoko around the main desk.

Behind the desk on the wall was a stand where keys were _supposed _to be hanging, but they were scattered all over the floor, and there was a trail of dry blood straining the spot where the keys were supposed to be. The desk itself was no better, all the paperwork was coated in a thick layer of blood, and the source of it, as far as they could tell, was a corpse laying down on the ground, flies buzzing around the decaying corpse.

Makoto couldn't manage to not gag, and he started to cough at the sight of the corpse, and had to back away, "I – I'm sorry," He gasped between breaths, "It's just…"

"I understand," Kyoko replied, "It's a putrid smell. It's good that you're not accustomed to it yet." He noticed that she said 'yet' in that statement, and he was aware that soon, if things continued the way they were, he was eventually going to get used to sight and smell of corpses. He didn't want that day to come, but really, each time he saw a corpse, his reaction was beginning to become less and less.

"What do you think happened here?" He asked, looking around the ruined office, "It looks like a fight."

"The owner, or an employee who worked here must have fled in here to hide." She replied, looking around the scene, "You'll notice that the front door was busted down, so chances are the monsters had to get through the locked door."

"And then all the blood is from…" he left it hanging, and just looking at the corpse confirmed his suspicion. Though it was easy to identify the body as a young woman, that was where his ability to identify it ended. She must have fled in here, trying to hide from the monsters, and then when they came in, they just mutilated her corpse. She must have been trying to find a room to flee to, if he had to guess, due to the bloodstain on the wall where all the keys were supposed to be.

"Yes, she met an unfortunate end." Kyoko whispered. Makoto again noticed an almost unreadable expression on Kyoko's face.

"What's wrong?" He asked. The moment he asked, her mask fell firmly back in place, and she stood up, "Kyoko?"

"Nothing," She replied, shaking her head, "I was expecting to get some room keys from here, but given what we've found, I think it'll be better if we just move on. It's clear that this motor inn isn't safe."

"Yeah," He sighed, following her out the door. He stopped briefly to look at the grisly scene behind him one more time before he went back out. His spirits were lowered each time he saw a scene like that, and even his status as 'The Ultimate Hope' as Kyoko called him before, was not enough to make him feel better. He was also curious about that expression her face – he wanted to know how she was holding up. Out of all of them, she was the only one who was clamming up, and he was beginning to suspect that she was beginning to come undone at the seams.

He sighed, it would do no good to confront her about it though, since he knew from experience that she would just tell him off for it. As long as she kept it together to lead their group along with Byakuya, he supposed there was little else he could do. He'd be patient with her and wait for her to confront him about it, since that was really all he could do when it came to Kyoko.

"Well, what did you find?" Byakuya asked, looking immensely bored as he watched Kyoko and Makoto exit the main office.

"This place isn't safe," Kyoko informed him, "There's another hotel further down the street. I suggest we go there." She pointed down the road to the other one. The other hotel was an average inn, and was four stories tall.

"Very well," Byakuya replied, trusting Kyoko's judgment. "Hina, Hiro, and Toko were busy making sure none of the monsters got close to us." He pointed out his shoulders towards the three, who were busy watching the streets for any sign of movement. Makoto also noticed a few new corpses that weren't there before, probably courtesy of Genocide Jill.

"Good work," Kyoko acknowledged their work, and she approached the trio, informing them of the new destination. "It could be dangerous however, since it's a much larger building, there are places for the undead to hide. Keep your eyes peeled."

"Got it," Aoi replied, sitting up from the hood of the car she was sitting on. She stretched her arms, and then grabbed her bow and an arrows. Yasuhiro was likewise ready to go, and Toko looked immensely pleased that she would be able to kill more of the zombies, so she was all aboard going to a new location.

Like before, they moved as a group to the new hotel, and this time everyone entered. The first floor, like the hotels they've been crashing in for the past few days, had a lounge area for guests to sit and wait, and like the other hotels, the furniture was completely trashed. Immediately upon entering, Byakuya made his way behind the receptionist counter, and looked for some keys, and everyone got into motion.

Makoto and Aoi started to barricade the front door, while Yasuhiro and Toko went around scouting the hotel to make sure that there were no zombies nearby. Kyoko meanwhile went behind the counter as well, much to Byakuya's annoyance, and started snooping around. They did this for a past few hotels, though Toko wasn't in her insane persona prior to this, and she usually helped with the barricade. Now that she was capable of fighting and killing the undead, she was a good asset to use for scouting purposes.

"Hey, look," Makoto pointed out as soon as he and Aoi were done pushing the furniture to the front door to create a barricade, "There's a map hanging here!" Where announcements and other random papers and notices would normally be hung up, instead the huge map dominated the wall. He went over, and on the wall was a very large map, with the text 'YOU ARE HERE', planted firmly in one spot. The map, like the one Byakuya was showing them before, showed all the evacuation zones within the region, and it showed exactly where they were heading.

"We've made a good amount of progress," Aoi noted, pointing to the city they were in only a day ago, "Though we've still got a long way to go."

"Yeah," Makoto muttered, reading the map trying to find where his parent's house were in relation to where they were going.

"So where's your home?" Aoi asked, as if she were somehow about to sense exactly what he was thinking about. If he was surprised, he didn't show it, and instead, he pointed a little further ahead on the map, and she smiled, "Oh, it'll only be a few more days at the pace we're going before we get there!"

"If we keep up the pace we're going, then yeah, I'd say another three or four days." He replied, feeling dread building up inside of him as he recalled what Byakuya said the previous days. He wanted to go there but… Chances are they were dead, and he knew that.

"Hey, don't think of what Byakuya said, alright?" Aoi's voice spoke up, snapping him from his thoughts, "I'm sure we'll find something when we get there."

He sighed, "Yeah, maybe." He mumbled, "But… You know, I saw my family in that video." She looked confused, so he elaborated, "The first motivation video," He clarified, "You know that, right? Junko revealed it to you all."

"I remember," She nodded, recalling the video, "They were talking about how proud of you they were, right?"

"Yep, and then the next scene shows the house in ruins, with none of them there." He looked down, "I wonder if Junko got that film recently, or if the house is just already like that."

"I think it's best not to think too much about what Junko showed us," Aoi shrugged, and heaved her backpack back over her shoulder as it slid off a tad, "She was nuts, and I think it's just best that we take everything she says with a grain of salt."

He nodded, "Yeah, you're right." He turned around just as Yasuhiro walked over, "How's the hotel?"

"Some of the rooms are locked, and there were a lot of zombies in some parts, but eh," He looked over at Genocide Jill, a bead of sweat going down his brow, "She seemed pretty happy to take care of it." Toko was currently talking with both Byakuya and Kyoko, so he turned back to them, "The first floor is secure, except for the locked rooms, so don't go trying to open those doors, we can't know for sure what's in there."

Mskoto nodded, and the three made their way over to the others, and the sleeping arrangement was set up for the night. The boys in one room, and the girls in another. Each room had two beds, so two people from each room would have to double up. For the boys, Yasuhiro and Makoto volunteered (Really, it wasn't so much as volunteer as it was avoiding Byakuya's wrath), and in the girl's room Aoi and Kyoko volunteered to double up (again, not really volunteered so much as care about their safety).

Everyone ate their rations in their room, and shortly after went to bed.

Or at least, Makoto would have, but he _really_ needed to go to the bathroom. He let out a groan, and got up from the bed, ignoring Yasuhiro's snoring, and he noticed that Byakuya was still up on his bed, a candle at his side and a book in his hand. Where he got the book, Makoto didn't know, but really, they passed through enough buildings that Byakuya must have picked it up from one of them.

"Where do you think you're going?" Byakuya asked, setting his book aside as he watched Makoto from over the rim of his glasses.

"Sorry, I just need to go to the bathroom." He replied, feeling a bit like a child asking for permission to go.

Byakuya nodded, "Ah, if that's the case, then please go. You smell bad enough already without the added stench of your fecal matter." He focused back on his book, "However, if you're in danger, just yell out. These rooms aren't soundproof like the ones we were in before."

"Got it," Makoto nodded, "Thanks Byakuya." Though Byakuya didn't reply, he did nod slightly, which was enough for Makoto to feel reassured. He grabbed his sword, and left the room. While there _was_ a bathroom in the room, Byakuya had been adamant about not using it, since he didn't want to smell the stench from his room.

So that meant that Makoto was forced to go out into the hall, and slowly make his way to the public restroom, and when he entered he held his sword in front of him, eyes looking all around. It was almost pitch black, and he could barely see a thing, the only light was a little moonlight from a very small window high up on the wall. Fortunately, there weren't any zombies in the bathroom, so he went to the stall to do his business.

He learned relatively early to make sure to check to see if the stalls had toilet paper, and when they did, he'd get to work. He stayed alert the entire time, and once he was done, he quickly hurried back to his room, not wanting to get potentially ambushed by the undead. Plus, he felt at least a little secure in his room know that Byakuya and Yasuhiro were both in there.

However, before he could go into his room, he heard a noise – it wasn't quite a moan that the undead made, and it was so quiet that he almost missed it, so he wasn't sure he heard it in the first place. Taking his sword and slowly unsheathing it, he walked back down the hallway towards the barricaded entrance of the building, where the noise became more and more noticeable. It was still mostly quiet, but now he knew he was actually hearing something.

He shouldn't have worried, since the moment he peeked around the corner into the lounge, he saw a figure hunched over, their arms wrapped around their knees with their face covered by their arms. He put his sword away, and slowly approached, "H – Hello?" He called out quietly. Unfortunately, even when he was trying not to startle them, the person still jumped.

"W – Whose there?!" The voice called out, and Makoto easily identified it as Aoi. "M – Makoto? Is that you?" She wiped her eyes quickly, "What are you doing here?" She asked, trying quickly to recompose herself.

"Were you crying?" He asked instead of answering her question. He got closer, and from moonlight shining in, he could see her eyes were quite watery, "What's wrong?"

"I – I wasn't crying!" She denied, wiping her eyes again, "Nothing's wrong!" Her voice cracked, "I just wanted to be alone for a bit!"

"By coming out into the lounge leaning against the wall and crying?" He asked, causing her to give him a half-hearted glare, though that was enough for him to see renewed tears forming, "You can talk to me, can't you? Can I stay with you?" He asked. If she told him to leave this time, then he would do as she asked, not wanting to push his boundaries.

She looked reluctant, and opened her mouth once, before shutting it, and then she opened it again and muttered, "O – Ok… I guess you can stay."

He was glad that she was talking to him, so he walked over and sat right next to her, "So why are you crying?" He asked again.

"I just had a stupid nightmare," She admitted, feeling her cheeks heating up from the admission, "It's really stupid."

"It can't be that bad, it's just a dream." He pointed out, which only caused her to sigh yet again. "Is it really that bad?"

"I was killing the zombies – those monsters out there – and right when I shot one with my bow, it just started screaming, like a normal human scream." She shuddered at the memory, "It scared me so badly that I started looking around, and I realized that all the other zombies were there just looking at me in horror, as if I did something so wrong…"

He frowned, "It just sounds like a normal nightmare… I've gotten a few since we've been out here too…" He told her, hoping to cheer her up, "You just got to forget them and move on."

"I know, and I want to, but this made me think a lot…" she mumbled, "It made me realize how easily I kill them now… I used to be appalled at the thought of killing them, and I would at least try to justify my reasons. I'd say that I was running, or that I had to do it in order to live."

"That sounds reasonable," He said, "But there's more to it I assume?"

"Yes," She nodded, "After a while, I just stopped doing that. I just kill them like it's second nature. I no longer care about who they were or what they did, nor do I even justify it to myself anymore."

He shuddered at that thought, "Yeah… I think we're all starting to do that, now that you mention it."

"But that's just it!" She exclaimed, looking at him with fearful eyes, "Doesn't that make us just as much of monsters as them? Are we any better? What if there's a cure for their condition? What if each one we kill still has the person trapped inside?"

"We read the newspaper, remember? It said that there's no cure for it." He tried to be reasonable, even though what she was saying was beginning to chill him just as much.

"But how can we really know?" She asked, "I don't want to be a monster that can't feel empathy for others! There's something wrong with me, I know it!"

Makoto sighed, trying to think of how Kyoko would handle this, so he let out a short breath, and shook his head, "Hina, listen to yourself."

"What?" She asked, unsure of what he meant by that.

"How in the world can you lack empathy when you're crying about this? To me, that makes me believe that you have more empathy than the rest of us do." He smiled, trying to get her to cheer up a bit, "As for killing them, if that's right or wrong, I can't really say. I want to say it's wrong, but those monsters out there have killed so many others."

"I know that, but still…"

"No," He stopped her before she could even go on, "Look, in our situation, we don't really have a choice, and I think you're just not justifying it anymore because it doesn't need to be said anymore. We _know_ we're doing this in self-defense, every time we kill them we do it only so we can go pass without getting hurt or infected ourselves, right?"

"But remember what you told me? It's easier if you just pretend they're not human? Isn't that in itself trying to lose empathy for them?" She asked, looking startlingly distressed. Makoto bit his lip, wondering just how long she was bottling this up inside.

"No, I don't think so, I think by doing that, we're trying to retain our minds." He admitted, "If I thought of them as humans, then all of those people I killed…" He felt a shiver go through him as he just thought about it, "I've killed dozens of them now… I _have_ to distance them from humans in order to stay sane, we all do."

"Except maybe Genocide Jill…" Aoi chuckled, albeit a little forcefully.

"Heh, yeah, except for her." He chuckled lightly as well, though his heart really wasn't in it.

"So do you think there _is _a cure for this infection?" She asked at least, coming to the main issue, "Do you think they do still have thoughts in their minds?"

He was silent for a few seconds before shaking his head, "No, I don't think there is a cure, and I don't think they have any thoughts going through their minds."

"Why do you say that?" she asked curiously.

"Their blood is coagulated, that only happens when you're dead. Plus they can't think, Kyoko and I pointed that out time and time again, that's why we can leave doors unlocked without worry, because we know they lack the intelligence to open them. Plus their flesh is rotting, there's no way they can be alive when they're decaying so much."

She looked thoughtful, and a sigh escaped her lips, "I didn't think of that… You're right, they're dead… I know it sounds horrible, but that makes me feel a little relieved."

"I makes me happy too," He admitted, "And one more thing – like I said, I don't think you're losing empathy by killing them. I think it's actually making you more empathetic, if this is anything to go by."

"Wha – What do you mean?" She asked, a blush appearing on her face.

"Well, I mean, day in and day out they've been hunting us and trying to kill us, and you're sitting out here crying about it…" he felt an actual genuine smile work its way to his face, "There's no way that doesn't make you empathic Hina."

"It sounds really stupid when you say it like that," She chuckled a bit, though he could see a bit of color returning to her face, "But yeah, I guess if you think about it like that, it's true."

"Good, I'm glad you feel better," He said truthfully.

"There's also one other reason I was out here," She mumbled, her happy expression clearing way for a sorrowful one, "I've been thinking about it ever since we got out of the Academy."

"What have you been thinking of?" He asked, leaning forward a bit due to how sore his back was getting.

"You know how you said your first motivation was your family? Well… It was mine too." She revealed, "My mom and dad were both saying how proud of me they were, and then the next moment, they're gone and everything is destroyed." Makoto watched her grip her hands tightly.

"R – Really?" He asked. Of course Junko said that the first motive was related to family, but he never really thought of it that much until now… Surely everyone had a similar motive, and he suddenly felt sick, "I can understand…"

"I think everyone here can understand… Byakuya is a jerk, but I think even he is sad that he won't be seeing his family again." She looked over to him, "I'm glad that you'll be able to have closure though."

He gritted his teeth, and looked down to the floor, and he knew he was being absolutely selfish when it came to his desire to see his family. He rubbed his hand through his dirty and matted hair, and tried to think of anything he could say, but really, what could he say to someone who will likely never get closure with their family? He knew his family was most likely dead, but at least he would see with his own eyes. "I – I'm sorry…" He whispered.

"For what?" She asked, blinking in surprise at what he said, "For going to see your family?"

"Yeah," He mumbled, "I understand why Byakuya was so mad at me now. He even explained it to me, and it _still_ went over my head, I didn't care about the context…"

"Idiot," She sighed, reaching over and smacking him on the back of the head, "Don't you _dare_ feel sorry for me or the rest of us!"

"But I'm being selfish!" he exclaimed, "I should have realized that you guys wanted to see your families too, why is it only me who gets to see them? We could have gone to your homes too…"

"No, we couldn't have. You _really_ weren't listening back then, were you? Don't you remember when I said that my family lives in a completely different city?" She stared at him, watching as he nodded, "And you know that we can't risk going into the cities, not with how things are now."

"Yeah, I know." He mumbled, "But still, it doesn't feel right… Maybe we can just skip over it after all. I'm sure Byakuya will be thrilled."

"Byakuya's a big jerk, he'd be thrilled to know that Toko dropped dead for crying out loud!" She said a bit louder than she wanted to, and they paused briefly to make sure they were overheard by the dead. Seconds passed, and she continued, "What I'm saying is that we _want_ you to go, and we're coming along."

"But why?" He asked, "You'll never receive closure. Why do I deserve it?"

"Aren't we friends?" She asked in a surprisingly hurt tone, causing him to look up at her in shock. "Why wouldn't I want you to do it? Do you think I'm that selfish and awful that I wouldn't want you to go? I'm a little envious, but that's not enough for me to stop you from going."

"But -."

"I don't care what you have to say! If you keep talking like this, I'm going to get really mad!" She growled out, "It's along our path, and it's not a big detour – we're going there whether you like it or not!"

He blinked a few times, and finally a laugh forced its way out of his throat, "You… You know, you're really something else, Hina."

"Good," She nodded approvingly, "I wouldn't want to be someone who holds you back from seeing family, and trust me, I know _everyone_ – even Jerk-kuya – thinks the same way."

"… Jerk-kuya?" He repeated after a moment of silence, "You… Are going to have to work on that a little more."

She chuckled, "yeah, I thought so too, it sounded bad immediately when I said it."

"So…" He looked aside, out the window at the fleeting moonlight, "What was your family like?" He asked, trying to change the subject to something lighter. He really hoped that it wouldn't make her cry again.

Fortunately, Aoi knew that he was trying to be nice, and didn't take it the wrong way, and she looked up towards the ceiling, "My dad was a real workaholic, I barely saw him much even when I was a little girl, and I remember staying up all night waiting for him to come home. During those times mom would take me to the beach, and I guess that's how I started getting into swimming."

"Oh, yeah," His eyes lit up, "You're the Ultimate Swimming Pro, I almost forgot."

"With everything that's been going on, I don't think I'll be swimming for a while yet," She replied, a tinge of regret in her tone, "I'm going to miss them, you know…"

"Yeah, I miss my family too…" Makoto sighed.

"So how was your family?" She asked, turning to look at him, "you had a sister a mom and a dad, right? I've never had a sibling, I bet it was a lot of fun!"

"Not quite," Makoto replied, "When we were little we'd fight a lot, though we did start to get along a lot more before I was accepted to Hope's Peak Academy." He shrugged, "By then we were both so busy with our own work that we never really had time to fight, and we just kind of had a mutual respect for one another."

"Aw, if I had a little sister I'd take her swimming with me all the time! We'd have a blast together!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah," He nodded, "It's funny, but now that they're gone, I kind of wish I did do stuff like that with my sister. I feel bad about all the times we fought over such stupid things…" He shook his head, "Anyway, my dad was kind of like yours, but he was home more often I guess. I remember hanging out a lot with my parents as kids."

"How was your mom?" She asked.

"She was just your typical mom, I guess. She was a bit, uh, angry at times, though I guess I remember that because she would always break up the fights between my sister and me and spank us both a lot." Aoi laughed at that, which caused Makoto to feel better as well. "I miss them a lot…" He sighed, "I'm kind of scared to see what's in my home… What if it was looted, or I find their…" He let it hang, not even wanting to finish the thought.

"Hey, remember what Byakuya said? Chances are you won't find them there at all – I know that's not a very good consolation, but… you know." She sheepishly laughed, hoping she just didn't make him feel worse, "And you also got to consider, maybe they're there right now and they're fine?"

"I'd have to pinch myself, because I'd know it was a dream." He replied dryly, "It's a nice thought though."

"It is… Maybe there could be a home cooked chicken, and a box of donuts too…" She licked her lips, her stomach growling for such a substantial meal.

"You're drooling," Makoto pointed out, causing the girl to blush and wipe it away with her arm, "I'm really in the mood for a cooked meal too, or even just a shower."

"Oh… A shower would be so nice!" She exclaimed, "I've gotten so used to the smell of sweat, blood, and whatever else is out there that I think my poor nose will never recover. I would love some clean clothes too while we're at it."

"Yeah, whenever I can, I'm going to burn my shirt and sweatshirt and replace them, I think these sweat and blood stains are going to be a permanent addition." He grimaced as he looked down at his worn, torn, and disgustingly dirty clothes.

"Yeah!" Aoi nodded enthusiastically.

After that, the two just sat together in a comfortable silence, their worries and fears for the moment off of their minds. They looked outside at the moonlight, thankful that none of the walking dead were out there emitting their creepy moan. It was so silent and peaceful, that for just a while, they could forget that the world had come to an end.

Aoi looked at Makoto who was now leaning against her, and she asked, "Do you think the world will ever go back to how it was? I mean, before we ever went to Hope's Peak Academy?"

He was so quiet that Aoi wondered if he fell asleep, but slowly he shook his head and sat up, "I… I don't know…" He answered honestly. "I don't think it'll ever go back to exactly how it was, but I think that we'll find a way to somehow recover from this."

Aoi nodded, and closed her eyes.

"I was wondering where you were last night." Byakuya's voice drawled out, and Aoi opened her eyes, blinking a few times as the sunlight blinded her for a bit, "But it appears that you were just out here with your girlfriend! How typical!"

"G – Girlfriend?" Aoi muttered, looking over to Makoto who was leaning into her chest, and she blushed a bright red, "No! It's not like that at all!" She stood up so quickly that Makoto was sent sprawling out onto the ground, "Oh crap, I'm sorry Makoto!"

Makoto looked up at the ceiling, briefly wondering where in the world he was, and he slowly sat up, realizing that he was in the lounge of the hotel. "Huh?" He mumbled, and then his memories raced back, "O – Oh! Girlfriend?!" He looked at Aoi, and then towards a strangely amused looking Byakuya, "It's not like that!"

"Oh, I apologize," He replied, "I just thought as much when I saw you two sleeping atop each other is all."

Was…was Byakuya teasing them? No. That couldn't be it, he must be a lot more tired than he thought if he honestly believe that Byakuya could express any other emotion than smug elitism or disgust. He slowly got to his feet, and he couldn't work up the courage to look at Aoi, so he mumbled, "I – I'm gonna go in my room, see you later Hina." He was vaguely aware that Aoi did the same thing, and soon he was in his room, unable to stop his racing heart.

Trust Byakuya to make things awkward, he only hoped that he would be able to look at Aoi later before Kyoko got suspicious and thought that something different occurred last night. He let out a sigh, and saw that Yasuhiro was already there and eating his rationed breakfast, so he went over to join him.

In the girl's room, Aoi stood with her back to the door, a bright red blush visible on her face as she looked to the ground. Toko was out of the room thankfully – she didn't think she could handle the girl's teasing – but Kyoko was there, and she was giving Aoi a very peculiar look.

Though Aoi managed to ignore it for a tad bit, going over to where she left her bag and bow, she looked over again, and notice that Kyoko was still looking at her. "W – What do you want?" Aoi asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

Kyoko blinked a few times, and asked, "Where were you last night? I heard you leave the room, but you never came back."

"Oh," Aoi relaxed, realizing that Kyoko must have been worried, "It's nothing. I just had to go to the bathroom. That's all."

"The bathroom?" Kyoko stated, sounding utterly unconvinced, "You took an unusually long time in the bathroom, considering you never returned." She crossed her gloved hands, watching Aoi pause briefly at her bag, "What were you _really_ doing?"

Aoi looked over at Kyoko, and thought about what she should say to her. While she didn't dislike Kyoko at all, she never really interacted with the girl much, and she didn't really have an impression of her other than that she was really good at solving crimes. They weren't very good friends, not like she was with Makoto. Kyoko was more along the same lines as Yasuhiro, she supposed – she considered them friends, but she didn't necessarily trust them with many details.

"Hina?" Kyoko spoke up, breaking the silence, "Are you going to tell me what you were doing?"

"I was…" Aoi shook her head, "It's not important, ok? I'm fine, after all."

Kyoko observed her a moment longer, and she started to speak, choosing her words very carefully, "I was… Under the impression that you're supposed to trust your friends." She saw Aoi look at her in confusion, "I don't understand what you have to gain by lying to me."

"I…" Aoi felt both shame and anger, "Well, I'm sorry okay? What do you want me to say?" She asked, getting aggressive as she opened up her bag and took out what she'd be eating for breakfast, and a half full water bottle, setting them down at the desk in the room that was at least in halfway decent shape.

"Don't get angry," Kyoko replied, still using the same emotionless face that Aoi was so used to, "I wasn't trying to aggravate you. I was just wondering if you'd tell me the truth. I was worried about you last night, so I went out to investigate, and I saw you crying by yourself."

Aoi paled, "You saw me?" She let out a soft sigh, "I went out there so I wouldn't disturb you guys. I'm sorry."

"I was about to go talk to you, but then I saw Makoto come over, so I stayed out of it, and left shortly after, when I could hear you laughing." She smiled slightly, "He's a good person."

"Yeah," Aoi readily agreed, "He's very dependable when you need him most." She chuckled, "I told him my worries last night, and it really helped." She blushed slightly, "Thinking back to it now, it was really dumb, but he didn't laugh at me at all. He helped put it all into perspective for me, and then we just talked about other things… It was nice. Just for a little while, things felt normal for a little while as we talked…"

Kyoko was silent as she absorbed this, and then she asked, "What exactly is your relationship with Makoto, Hina?"

Aoi blushed bright red again, and nearly choked on the food she was eating, and she looked up at Kyoko, "Wha – not you too! Byakuya was making fun of us this morning too!"

"I'm not making fun of you, I'm quite serious." Kyoko replied, and when Aoi focused a little more on her, she could see that Kyoko did seem a little more attentive. "I'm… interested to know."

"We're just friends," Aoi claimed again, "Nothing's going on between us, if that's what you're wondering."

Aoi wasn't sure what she was expecting to hear, but a soft, "Good" wasn't very high on her list, nor was it even on her list in fact. She blinked a few times, and wondered if she misheard her.

"Are _you_ interested in Makoto?" Aoi asked, and to her astonishment, she saw a very faint red hue appear on Kyoko's cheeks, "Y – You are!" She smiled, "I knew it! That is why you two were always together back in the Academy!"

"N – No! We were investigating then," Kyoko stuttered, her mask cracking as she tried to keep her emotions under control, "Seriously, we were! We _never_ did anything together!"

"I'm sure, I'm sure!" She chuckled, though her laughter died down, and she started to think for a bit, "You know, I'm actually kind of jealous… I actually wouldn't mind dating if it were him…" She realized what she just said aloud, and she blushed bright red, "Ah, I mean… Uh…"

Kyoko's eyes narrowed dangerously, "So you're interested in him too?" It wasn't so much a question as it was a statement, but Aoi shook her head regardless.

"No! Well, I mean, a little, but I'm ok with stepping aside so you can be with him. I doubt he sees me like that anyway, you know? I'm too boyish!" Aoi stuttered out, and the entire time her face was growing hotter and hotter.

Kyoko just watched it unfold, and she just stared at her without saying a word, causing Aoi to wonder if she said something wrong. Finally Kyoko let out a soft sigh and asked, "I can't tell if you're kidding or not, honestly."

"What?" Aoi asked, "What do you mean?"

"Never mind," Kyoko sighed, "Once you're done eating, come out into the lounge. Byakuya and I have agreed to adjust the path a little bit in consideration of a few factors."

"Oh, like what?" Aoi asked curiously.

Kyoko faintly smiled, "You'll see."

With that said, she got up, making sure to adjust her backpack properly, and left the room with Aoi still in it. Aoi shook her head, still unsure about how she felt regarding Kyoko, though she did feel… something when it came to agreeing to step aside for her. She really only thought of Makoto as a friend, but… Maybe she was hopeful it would have blossomed into something more. Still, she agreed to step aside for Kyoko, so she wasn't going to pursue him.

For some reason though, that just made her feel sad.

A few minutes later, Aoi walked out of her room and realized that she was the last one to meet up with the group. They were all at the map, and from the look on Byakuya's face, he was clearly becoming more and more impatient. She blushed lightly, hating the fact that she was the last one there, so she jogged over to them, "Hello!" She called, stopping beside Toko, "I'm sorry I'm late."

Byakuya glared at her, though he shook his head, perhaps deciding that it wasn't worth getting too upset over, or perhaps he was just beginning to get used to his companions habits. Regardless of how he felt, he turned towards the map hanging behind him, and began to speak, "As you can clearly see, we're here on this map," He pointed the spot that was clearly marked, as if his audience were a bunch of idiots. "Kyoko and I have adjusted our route."

"Instead of continuing on the highway as we initially planned, we've decided to head out west," Kyoko continued, drawing a line with her finger, "Since we've already planned to make a detour towards Makoto's home, this is actually the fastest path, and it will also bring us closer to some less densely populated towns. Our hope is that we'll at least find some supplies, or if we're lucky, we may run into some other survivors and gain some new information."

"Yes," Byakuya nodded, "While we all still have a week's supply of food, assuming we only eat and drink twice daily, even if we were to continue on our planned path, we'd run out of food well before we reach the evacuation zone, so in doing this, we'll hopefully find some supplies. We'll also be getting a new wardrobe soon, because honestly, you all smell absolutely wretched. I already have to deal with smelling the undead outside, so I think expecting us all to smell a _little_ bit better than them is an acceptable goal."

Aoi had to agree with that – begrudgingly, since it was Byakuya saying it – all of their clothes were so dirty that she was almost willing to go without them at this point. Not to mention she hadn't washed her hair in days, and she hated touching it, since her hand would get caught in a bunch of knots and dirt.

"Thank you, Byakuya." Makoto spoke up, and actually bowed down to the boy, much to Aoi's chagrin. Makoto was _far_ too nice to be bowing down to some asshole like Byakuya, and she was just about to voice that opinion when he continued, "I know you were opposed to making this detour, but you went along with it anyway."

"Oh please," Byakua rolled his eyes, "I didn't do this in consideration of you. I just did the math and realized that my current projections were far too optimistic considering our group. We had to do this for supplies." He turned back towards the map, "Furthermore, we'll soon be returning to the highway later on, so if all goes according to plan, we shouldn't be losing more than three or four days due to this."

At first Aoi was a bit peeved by Byakuya's dismissive attitude, but she looked at Makoto, who seemed to be smiling… Why was that? She couldn't understand, was this something between them as boys or something? She shook her head, whatever, they were preparing to leave, and she had to get ready to use her bow again.

Like every day since getting out of the Academy, she felt herself beginning to tense up as she thought of her duties, but she calmed down, and began to remove the barricade they placed on the front door. Genocide Jill was happily chatting up a storm with Byakuya, who looked more than a little annoyed (though it served him right!), and Kyoko was looking at the map one last time.

"Are you two ready?" Makoto asked her and Yasuhiro as they removed the last bit of the barricade.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Yasuhiro replied.

Aoi meanwhile, noticed a zombie was very close, so she drew an arrow back and held her breath, and right as the zombie began to turn its head towards them, she let the arrow loose, and it pierced right through its eye, killing it instantly. She nodded towards Makoto, "Yeah, I'm ready."

And so they went, continuing on their journey once more.


	4. Cruelty

Chapter Four

Cruelty

While the sun was still far too warm for her liking, Aoi was enjoying the change of scenery as they walked along the road they were on now. Instead of the highway, where cars were all over the place and they had to spend the entire day going slow and climbing over the wreckage, now they could walk rather leisurely. Occasionally they would run into a car crash, and see a few corpses out and about, and they would even occasionally run into some of the monsters, but it wasn't the norm like it was on the highway.

This road was going through a large field – there were houses off in the distance, and there was a power line trailing right alongside the road, but other than that, it was pretty peaceful. They could even hear birds – the first time they have heard the chirping since escaping the Academy almost a week ago. She was just so glad they decided to take this detour two days ago, and she often contemplated just going up to Makoto and kissing him for convincing Byakuya and Kyoko to adjust their path.

Exaggerations aside, she felt content, well… for the most part anyway. There was still the whole issue about the world – at the very least Japan – being overrun by the monsters, but when she was out in the sun, heard birds chirping, and saw green grass and trees nearby, it was just so easy to forget about it. Her bow was currently on her back, and for the moment, as far as she could see, there weren't any of the creatures about, so she didn't have to worry about using it anytime soon.

The only downside to everything was the fact that her backpack was becoming lighter and lighter as the days passed, and that was beginning to concern her. They have passed through a few town, but in each town, they only managed to stock up on a day or two worth of rations, nothing substantial that would last them a while. They at least have passed by a few streams, so they didn't really have to worry about rationing water quite as much, but they were still quite worried about food.

"There's a gas station up ahead," Byakuya announced, "I suggest we check inside to see if we can find any supplies." He stopped the group, "Hina, I want you to go in first and take out any of the monsters you see, Makoto, back her up. The rest of us will wait for you two."

Aoi nodded, "Roger," She mumbled sarcastically, still hating the fact that he was pretty much becoming their leader. Kyoko still stood up to him occasionally, but for the most part, Byakuya was more often than not calling the shots. Still, she had to agree that sending her in was a good idea, since her weapon was long ranged and was, for the most part, silent.

"Hold on," Kyoko stopped walking, and the rest of the group slowed down as a result, "I see figures moving."

"W – Well of course you do, its p – probably the m – monsters." Toko replied, back to her original persona, "That's w – why we're having Hina and M – Makoto go in."

"No," Kyoko shook her head, "They're moving too quickly to be the undead." She narrowed her eyes, "Get down!" She led the group over to the side of the road where there were a few trees and bushes for them to take cover in. She peeked around the tree, and frowned, "Yes, they're definitely human."

"Y – You mean people like us?!" Makoto cried, a smile immediately crossing his face, "Thank god! It's so good to hear that there's others! Come on, let's go greet them!" He was about to leave cover when he felt Kyoko suddenly grip his shoulder, "Huh?"

"We don't know their intentions, it's not wise to go confront them without more observation." She explained.

"What?" Aoi asked in surprise, "You think they might hurt us if we go over there? But there are those monsters around! They can't afford to fight against us! Shouldn't we unite against the undead?"

Byakuya sneered at her, "How naïve! Didn't the killing game teach you anything? You can't trust people so willingly. I agree with Kyoko, we must assume they're enemies first, and if they don't show any signs of fighting us, then we'll go confront them."

"How can we determine if they're friendly if we don't confront them?" Yasuhiro asked, "I mean, Aoi is right, isn't she? Why would people fight each other when the world is like this?"

"Fools," Byakuya breathed under his breath, "It's as if you've forgotten everything!" He glared at Makoto, Yasuhiro, and then Aoi. Makoto and Yasuhiro were cowed by it, but Aoi glared just at intently back at him.

"Then if you're so worried about it, how about we split up, Makoto and I will go confront them, and the rest of you can wait here! That was the original plan anyway, wasn't it?" She asked Byakuya, "You wanted us to clear it of the undead."

Byakuya let out a strained sigh, "You know what? I don't care. If you want to go risk your lives, then please, be my guest!"

"I know you're upset with how Byakuya is saying it," Kyoko spoke up, looking at Makoto and Aoi evenly, "But he's right. It's a big risk to confront others, and I think it would be best to just wait until they leave."

Makoto looked uncertain for a little bit, looking out towards the gas station where the figures were still moving, and then towards Aoi, and finally back at Kyoko. He took a deep breath, and said, "Aoi and I will investigate, if it's as bad as you and Byakuya fear it might be, then please come and help us…" He saw Kyoko's eyes flash with worry, and he gave her a forced smile, "hey, I'm the ultimate hope, remember? I have to do this sort of thing!"

Everyone's eyes were glued onto Kyoko, and after a few seconds of silence, where she closed her eyes as if to think on it, she finally nodded. "Very well, Makoto. We'll watch over you and make sure to help you if things go wrong."

"They won't," Makoto assured her, "But thank you." He turned to look at Aoi, "Ready?"

She nodded enthusiastically, "Yes!" She was with Makoto when it came to this – they were living, breathing human beings! They finally found others, and hopefully they would be able to help each other in some way. She grinned happily, and got up, and started making her way down the road with Makoto beside her.

"This is idiotic," Byakua grumbled from the bushes, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the pistol he got from the father's corpse a while ago, "They're going to force me to use this."

Yasuhiro looked at the gun and then back to Byakuya, "Come on… Maybe they're right? Maybe they are friendly?"

"For their sake, I hope they are." Byakuya stated, and then he turned his attention back to the gas station further ahead on the road.

Aoi hated to admit it, but she was beginning to feel nervous as they went closer to the gas station, and she had an urge to just run. However, she steeled her resolve, since she was the one who practically forced Makoto into doing this, so she took a quick breath, trying to calm down. She still had her bow if things got too bad, and Makoto's sword was within reach as well. She looked at the figures, and noticed that they stopped, clearly noticing those walking down the road towards them.

"Hello," Makoto called when they got closer. The gas station had a few run down cars at it, and some of the pumps looked busted, with the nozzles on the ground. The store itself had the windows smashed in, and he could see some movement inside, and he wondered just how many survivors were here. Off in the distance, he could see the undead walking slowly towards them, though they weren't that big of a threat.

Two of the figures approached them, and Aoi realized that both of them were thuggish looking guys – one was wearing a black leather jacket, a torn up white T-shirt, and jeans that were ripped all over the place, and the one beside him wasn't wearing any shirts, and just had on some pants that were just as badly torn as his companions. They were smiling though, so that was a positive sign at least.

"Heh, hello there." The leather jacket wearing one greeted, "It's rare to see other survivors out now, what are you doing here?" His fingers crept towards his pocket, and Aoi felt herself tensing up – both men were taller than she and Makoto, and alarm bells were ringing in her head. Prior to the outbreak these were the type of people she'd want to avoid, and it was no different now. Maybe listening to Byakuya and Kyoko was a better idea after all…

Oblivious to her thoughts, Makoto held out his hand, "Hey, I'm Makoto, we're just heading towards my home. It's actually not that far from here." He smiled softly, "I recognize this place from my childhood."

Aoi's eyes lit up at that – why in the world didn't Makoto say anything to them about that? She thought about it, and came to one conclusion, and that was because he didn't want to make the rest remember their own families or childhood. She was a bit crossed at that, but stayed silent, allowing Makoto to continue the conversation. Afterwards though, oh, she was going to have a few words with him!

"Local, eh?" The leather-bound one muttered, though he reached forth and shook Makoto's hand, "You're not going to find much here."

"Really?" He asked, his expression falling, "There's no fort or anything for survivors here?" He asked, and Aoi felt a stab of pain in her heart – he knew it was a futile hope, but he had kept that hope alive regardless.

"Heh, are you new out here or something?" The thuggish man asked, "For the first few months stuff like that was common, but there were too many people who were bitten, pretending that they were fine, and that killed off a lot of the resistance."

"What about the military?" Makoto asked, "What about the evacuation zones? Are any of those still operational?" He figured that he could get as much information out of these guys as possible, since that was something Byakuya would do.

"The cities are all fucked up," The man said, "No one goes there unless if they have a death wish. It's easier to just live out in the country side, you don't run into as many of the zombies that way." He covered his eyes as he looked up towards the sky, "How about you two come in the gas station for a bit? I'm burning up out here."

"We'll treat you," The shirtless one said, talking for the first time with a low gravelly voice, "It's just us two, but we try to make it homely."

Alarm bells went off in Makoto's head, "It's just the two of you?" He asked, his eyes narrowing a smidgen, "I could have sworn I saw someone else inside the gas station." He looked towards Aoi hesitantly.

"Nope," The leather-clad one stated, "It's just us." He chuckled, "Are you always this paranoid?"

Makoto again looked at Aoi, and she realized that he was leaving the choice up to him. Though with him so hesitant on it, she was beginning to grow paranoid as well. The two men were nice at least, but she didn't fully trust them… Whether that was due to the 'game' they participated in, or due to their appearance, she didn't know, so she took a deep breath, and decided to ignore the warnings in her head, and she nodded, "It can't be too bad, right?" she asked Makoto, who studied her a little longer.

"Yeah… I guess so." He replied slowly. He looked back towards them, "Alright, we'll come in." He followed the men, and he asked, "So what are your names?"

"Call me Takeshi," The leather-wearing one said, "My friend here is Jin." He stepped inside the gas station and held the doors open for his companions.

Makoto took one more look, trying to see if he could spot anyone else in the store, and when he couldn't, he stepped inside. The moment he stepped through the threshold, he knew something was wrong, but before he could react, he felt something slam into the back of his head, and he fell to the ground, a sharp pain burning on the back of his head. "Agh!" He cried out, feeling incredibly disoriented.

"MAKOTO!" Aoi screamed, and she was about to kneel down next to him, but she looked up, and spotted two new men, one of them pointing a knife right at her, and the other had a wooden board, which she immediately identified as the weapon that they knocked Makoto down with, "What are you doing?!" She cried angrily.

"Just welcoming our new guests, didn't we tell you?" Takeshi replied, a throaty laugh emitted from his mouth, "You wouldn't believe how many people fall for this! Now, I wonder what in those bags of yours! We've been running low on food, and this gas station doesn't have anything!"

Aoi looked around – the man who used the board stood above Makoto, who was still on the ground moving around, but clearly out of it for the moment. She stood in the doorway of the gas station, with a man holding a knife out to her. Takeshi meanwhile pressed a foot into Makoto's back, and started digging through the boy's backpack. Meanwhile, Jin was wandering through the aisles of the small station, trying to find some other supplies.

"She's a pretty one, ain't she?" The man with the knife said with a lustful smile spreading across his face, and he licked his chapped lips, "It has been a long time since we've found a girl like her."

"D – Don't you dare touch her!" Makoto tried to get lift himself up from the ground, but the man using the wooden board as a weapon slamming down on his head again, "Ack!" He cried, as he faced was slammed into the ground, and Aoi felt tears coming to her eyes as she noticed blood.

"Stop hurting him!" She cried, "Just take what you want, leave us alone!"

"No can do, missy." Takeshi replied, pulling out some canned food and smiling, "You two came here and gave us a nice amount of supplies, the least we can do is, heh, give you a place to stay, don't you think?" He leered over at her, and Aoi wish so badly that she had put her jacket on before coming over. She felt almost naked standing in just her tank top and shorts, and she unconsciously tried to cover herself up with her hands.

"How old are you, little girl?" The man holding the knife to her asked. When she stayed quiet, he stepped forward, and the knife was within an inch of her throat, "Talk." He demanded.

"I – I'm…" She closed her eyes trying to think. She wanted to say fifteen, because that was the last memory she remembered before going to the academy, but if she stayed there for two years, and then the added weeks now, she knew she was older than that, "S – Seventeen, I think."

Takeshi let out a whistle, "Seventeen eh? No wonder you look so good. Maybe later me and the boys can teach you a thing or two about being a woman."

She paled considerably, and shook her head, "N – No!"

"Hm… You seem to like this boy here, right?" Takeshi lifted up Makoto's head by his hair, "I think we could kill him if we hit his head hard enough a few more times, don't you think?"

"No!" She shouted, "Don't kill him! Please!"

"Then I'll make you a deal," Takeshi stood up, now with Makoto's sword in hand, "You let us… heh, 'instruct' you on how to be a woman, and we'll let him live." He walked over, and leaned his face close to hers, "One wrong move, and he's dead, do you understand?"

She wanted to spit in his face, kick him hard in the groin, _anything_, but she knew that he would probably order Makoto's death if she did anything like that, so with gritted teeth she nodded, "F – Fine…"

"Hina, no!" Makoto shouted, "Don't do that!" Again he tried to get up, and the man holding the board stepped on his back hard, preventing him from getting to his feet. "Hina, it's not worth it, I don't want these monsters to violate you!"

"Monsters?" Takeshi repeated in surprise, "Us? If you're not aware kid, the _real_ monsters are out there. We're just trying to survive!"

Despite the foot holding him down, Makoto managed to maneuver himself, so that he was looking at Takeshi. Hina let out a soft gasp, seeing blood dripping from a cut lip he had, and a trail of blood was also leaving his nose. "Those things out there… They don't know any better, they just do what their instincts tell them… You… You're killing innocent people…"

"Hah! None of us are innocent boy!" He looked to the man with the board, "Now if you don't know what's good for you, you'll keep talking, and I'll have my buddy there smash your brains in, you got that?"

Makoto gritted his teeth, and was about to yell out something, but time seemed to slow for Aoi as she realized that he was willing to _die_ to try and prevent her from being violated by these men. She couldn't have that – she _wouldn't_ have that. She screamed, getting all of their attention onto her, "DO IT NOW!"

"Do what now?" Takeshi asked, and even Makoto looked confused.

"I – I mean… You said you wouldn't hurt Makoto if you – you…" She couldn't bear to say it, she didn't want these monsters touching her, but she didn't want Makoto to die either. Given the choice, she'd gladly give her body up rather than allowing Makoto to die.

"Heh, your boyfriend here sure is lucky," He leaned his face forward, and she felt his breath tickling her ear, and she tried to hold back her tears as his hand gripped her breast, "Hm… This will be fun…" She felt one of his hands begin to snake its way down her body, feeling her up, and she felt absolutely revolted.

Makoto watched with a mixture of disgust and horror, but below all of that, he felt rage. The last time he ever felt this angry was when Monokuma forged Sakura's suicide note and nearly got Aoi to kill them all as a result. His vision was beginning to go red, and he let out a primal roar, "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER YOU MONSTER!" He shouted so loud that his throat hurt afterwards.

Takeshi let go of Aoi, and took a few steps away, "I warned you boy! Your girlfriend was trying to save you, but now…" Aoi let out a scream, not wanting it to happen, but before any of that could happen, an extremely loud 'BANG' garnered all of their attention, and it was deafening to everyone in the gas station. It came from outside, and all looked over, except for Takeshi, who stood still for a moment, before he collapsed to the ground, a small hole in the back of his head.

"T – Takeshi!" The man with the knife cried, shocked to see his leader go down, but just seconds after, the deafening sound happened again, and the man collapsed. Jin and the one holding the board witnessed a pink haired girl standing outside, a gun in her hands, and a murderous look on her face.

Aoi knew that Kyoko was capable of expressing emotions, that much she was sure due to their talk at the hotel a few days ago, but she _never_ had seen her face twisted into such a hateful look of fury. It was as if all of her emotions were spiraling out of control, and she was incapable of maintaining it behind her façade anymore. She pointed the gun at the man standing atop of Makoto, and Aoi let out a surprised shout as Kyoko remorselessly pulled the trigger, killing him as well.

"K – Kyoko?" Makoto whispered in shock, seemingly just as surprised as Aoi was. He slowly got to his feet, and coughed, a few droplets of blood dripping from his cut lip, "Are you ok?"

"Am _I_ ok?" Kyoko spat out, her glare turning immediately towards him, "Are you an idiot, Makoto? Do you not understand how scared we were for you?! Did you just forget that we were out here?! Why did you keep talking when they were threatening to kill you? Is your brain rotten?!"

Yasuhiro, and Byakuya walked inside, trying their best not to look at the freshly killed bodies, and Yasuhiro went to help Makoto back to his feet. "Are you alright, man?" He asked, giving the boy a concerned look.

"I'm fine…" He muttered, though his attention was on Kyoko, "I'm sorry…" He whispered to her. Kyoko just completely ignored him, and instead walked with Byakuya over to the last remaining thug.

Jin cowered back, since both of the kids had guns trailed on him, and they both were standing far enough back to where he couldn't reach out and try to wrestle it from their hands. Even if he _did_ try to do that, the other would just kill him. "What do you want?" He asked, his voice quivering.

"Do you know of any locations where survivors were gathering?" Byakuya asked.

"Other than the evacuation zones, I don't know. I just heard that the cities have been overrun – I don't even know if that's true though!" He slapped his hands together and bowed slightly, "Please, I swear that's all I know!"

"How many people have you killed like this?" Kyoko asked next, causing Byakuya to glance at her warily. She ignored his look, and she was able to hide her emotions again, and her calm demeanor seemed to also make the man in front of her less afraid, "Tell me, please."

"I don't know… We've been doing this for nearly a year now…" He muttered, "B – But it's for survival, don't you understand? You guys had food on you, and we were running out!"

"They foolishly decide to come here because they thought you could help each other. Knowing how idiotic Makoto is, he would have shared some of his supplies with you, forcing us all to do so as well," Byakuya replied darkly, "And yet you still do this, and pray tell, how does raping women count as survival?"

"O – Only Takeshi does that, I'm innocent!" He cried, sweat going down his head in bullets. "I – I respect woman, honest! I would never violate them like that!"

Kyoko nodded slowly, "Very well…" She began to lower her gun, making the man relax, but then he gasped as it discharged, the loud noise deafening him for a second, and he looked down to his leg, where a bullet had gone clean through. His eyes widened, and he let out a blood curling scream.

"AHHHHH!" He shouted, falling to the ground, "Damn you!" He shouted, glaring at her, "Why would you do this to me you bitch! Fuck you! I swear to god once I get up, I will fucking kill you, and then I'll fuck your corpse!" He shouted obscenities, though none of them made Kyoko flinch.

"Shall we go?" Byakuya asked Kyoko, walking away from the man who suddenly paled.

"W – wait! You can't leave me here! How am I going to survive? DON'T LEAVE ME!" He shouted, trying to get up, but the wound in his leg made him fall down again, "Please! Don't leave!"

"Let's go," Kyoko told Aoi, Makoto, and Yasuhiro, who were all in the front of the store. Toko was still outside, not wanting to witness more death. "His screaming will attract the monsters that heard the gunshots away from us."

Makoto looked sick as he realized her plan, and both Aoi and Yasuhiro didn't look much better. Even Byakuya raised a brow at her, "That's surprisingly… Cruel." He finally stated, putting his pistol back in his pocket, "I wouldn't have expected it from you."

"Kyoko…" Makoto muttered, though again, the girl completely ignored him and walked out of the store. Yasuhiro and Aoi both helped him up, and they looked back at the man writhing around on the ground screaming for his life.

"Come on," Aoi finally stated, "They… They deserve it."

Makoto frowned, and shook his head, "No…" He unsheathed his sword, and walked over to the man, who suddenly smiled upon seeing him come over. Before he could say another word or anything however, Makoto slammed his blade into his skull, killing him instantly. He turned around, his expression clouded as he walked out of the store.

Yasuhiro looked ready to throw up, while Aoi felt tears coming in – it was all her fault… She made this happen. It was painfully quiet as they got out of the gas station and walked on, no one bringing up the fact that Makoto just mercy killed the man, nor did anyone bring up the fact that Kyoko was willing to let him die in such a horrible manner. Not even Byakuya was willing to say anything, and he just led the group onward, allowing the silence to reign.

As night fell, they walked into a neighborhood, with Kyoko leading the group now, Byakuya was beside her, his eyes scanning around, and he was making sure they were safe from the monsters as well as from other people. Fortunately, as they walked in the middle of the street, they were easily able to avoid the zombies around them, and soon they stopped in a driveway when the sun was beginning to set. They picked this house out of all the other ones due to the fact that it didn't look quite as ruined, and Kyoko led them in.

They walked up to the front door, and were glad to see that it was still working properly, and they were more thrilled that it was unlocked. The house itself was only two stories tall, and most of the windows were fortunately still intact. Kyoko took hold on the door handle, and looked towards the rest of the group, "Yasuhiro and I will go scout it out to make sure there's none of them inside, Byakuya, you and Toko wait here and make sure none of the monsters get close to the building."

She went in before Makoto or Aoi could say anything, and instead, they just looked towards the ground, either at the pavement they were standing on, or at the grass that was withered due to not being watered in the summer heat. "She's still mad at us, huh?" Aoi muttered.

"Y – Yeah," Toko nodded, "She's really upset."

Makoto let out a soft sigh, "She has a good reason to be upset with us though…"

"Indeed." Byakuya replied, turning around to look at the two of them, "We told you over and over again about how foolish it would be to go confront them, but you insisted, and nearly got yourselves killed. If I had to guess, Kyoko is not only upset with you, but I believe she's also upset that she was practically forced to take their lives to save you." He sighed, "Idiots…"

"Wh – What? We didn't force her to do anything!" Aoi claimed, finding her voice after a few seconds.

"Oh? So tell me, what would have happened if she walking up with the gun pointed at them and didn't shoot? With both of you in their grasps, they'd have human shields, and could potentially bargain their way out of it."

Aoi's face fell, "Oh… I didn't think of it like that."

"Kyoko isn't an idiot, unlike the rest of you," He growled out, apparently he was incapable of compliments if they weren't paired up with an insult, "She knew that the highest chances of getting you two out alive was to kill them."

Makoto bit his bottom lip, "I'm sorry…" He finally mumbled, "I guess I just couldn't imagine people being like that…"

"Why are you apologizing to me?" Byakuya asked, raising an eyebrow inquiringly, "I could hardly care if you died, Makoto. Kyoko is the one who risked her life to save you. The moment she saw you being beaten, she snapped."

"S – She did?" He asked, his eyes widening.

"Yes. I've never seen her lose her composure like that before, I suppose for some bizarre reason, you're very important to her." He saw Makoto blush, "Oh come off it, don't you remember what she said before we left the Academy?" He asked.

"She… She said that she would be willing to face everything with me, right?" He asked, his shoulders slumping, "Do I really mean that much to her?" He asked quietly.

Byakuya sighed again, "Idiot." That was all he said as he stepped away and started to survey the yard. There wasn't very much to see, but he apparently still thought it was necessary, or he just wanted to get away from Makoto, either one worked well enough.

Aoi was unable to even look at Makoto – she cared about him a lot, and she nearly got him killed… It was her insistence that led to him going with her to meet them, and it was because of her that he got beat so bad, because he didn't want those men – no, those monsters – to touch her. Added onto all of that, she felt so awful for Kyoko, who even admitted to liking Makoto to her… What if she _did_ get Makoto killed, what would happen then?

Well, she supposed it wasn't rocket science. If Makoto died, Kyoko would probably snap, given her severe reaction to him being in danger. That would inevitably lead to Kyoko dying, and Aoi wasn't sure how well she would be able to hold it together. Despite saying that she would step aside for Kyoko, she found herself regretting saying that so much. Makoto was willing to do so much for her… She felt awful about it, but now, she was almost willing to fight Kyoko for him…

But given how she endangered him, would Makoto even talk to her anymore? He'd probably hate her now, she forced him into that position – it was because of _her_ that he very well could have died. She led the group into danger, it was all her fault… Maybe it would be best if she just left the group?

"The house is now clear," Kyoko's calm voice broke Aoi from her thoughts, and she looked up at the girl with Yasuhiro standing right behind her. She noticed that he had his knives out, and several of them were bloodied, so there must have been some of the undead within the house. "There's three bedrooms upstairs that we can make use of, though the door leading to the backyard is smashed apart, so I'd feel safer if we took turns keeping watch tonight."

"I'll do first watch," Yasuhiro volunteered, "That way I can get sleep without it being disturbed!" He explained, trying to lighten the mood, but it was no use.

"I'll go second," Aoi raised her hand hesitantly, "I don't think I'll sleep much tonight anyway…"

"I'll go third," Byakuya replied smoothly, "I think that should be enough them. Everyone can watch for three hours, and then we'll switch, is that acceptable?" Everyone nodded, and then he stepped inside the house. Kyoko followed quickly, still ignoring Makoto and Aoi, and then Toko went in after to chase after Byakuya.

"So…" Yasuhiro looked at the two of them, "Well…At least we're all ok, right?" He pat their shoulders, but that did nothing to lift their spirits, and they both went into the house without a word. Yasuhiro scratched his hair and finally shrugged, "Well… I'm sure it'll all work itself out eventually…"

And so the group settled for the night, Yasuhiro stood watch downstairs, his knives ready just in case if the undead or something else might try to get through the smashed doors. Everyone else was upstairs, eating their rations and resting. For some though, rest proved to be quite elusive, and Makoto stayed up, just staring at the ceiling as Toko sat beside him, a wet cloth in her hand as she wiped the blood off of his face.

"So… Why are you in here again? I can do this myself, you know." He asked, looking at the girl sitting beside him. He was on the only bed in the room, while Toko had a chair pulled up beside it. There was a dresser in the room, though the drawers were torn out and emptied, and there was a ceiling fan, though that was clearly not operational. On the wall just next to the bed, there was a window showing the moon out, providing them with just enough light.

"Byakuya told me to do this," She stated, "H – he said that since Hina is avoiding you, Kyoko is ignoring you, Hiro is busy downstairs, and he doesn't want to, it fell to me to treat your wounds and m – make sure they don't get infected."

Makoto sighed, "I see… Hina's avoiding me?"

"Y – Yes." Toko nodded, "You didn't notice?" She pressed the cloth to his split lip, and for a second there was some pain, but it quickly faded away.

"No, I guess not… I was worried about talking to Kyoko that I didn't even notice." He replied.

"Your observational s – skills leave a lot to be desired," She stuttered, "Haven't y – you noticed how Hina keeps looking away from you?"

"Why would she do that?" He asked, "It's because of me that we were in that situation… If I wasn't so optimistic, then none of that would have happened…"

"I'm not a mind reader," Toko replied, wiping away the dried blood with ease, "But if I had t – to guess, I'd say she feels guilty…"

"Guilty? There's no reason for her to feel guilty!" He exclaimed.

Toko face lit up with anger, "A – Are you saying t – that I'm wrong?!" She twisted the cloth in her hands, forcing the liquid out of it, "Y – You're the idiot who d – doesn't notice these things!"

"H – Hey… I mean, I'm not saying you're wrong? Ok?" He tried to calm her down, and he let out a sigh as Toko calmed down slightly. "So… What should I do then?"

"I don't know, w – why are you asking me?" She asked, grimacing as she set the cloth with blood in it aside.

"Well, you're a friend, right? In addition to that, you're a girl." He saw her roll her eyes at that, "What?"

"How am I supposed to know how to confront them? H – Hina is a barbarian, and Kyoko I – is scary." She shrugged, "B- but… I suppose, a – as your friend…" She seem to soften very slightly at that – only slightly – and she looked towards the ceiling, "I suppose Hina would be easier to confront. Just talk to her tonight while she's on watch, she can't walk away from you then."

"And what about Kyoko?" He pressed onward.

"Wait for her to cool off in a few days I guess," She shrugged, "She was like this once before I – in the Academy, right?" She saw Makoto nod, "And she cooled off there after a few days."

"But that was because she figured out why I couldn't tell her my secret then…" She saw Toko look a little confused, and he waved it off, "Anyway, I don't know if that will work this time."

"W – Well!" Toko looked about ready to yell again, but she calmed down, realizing the danger of doing something like that, and she instead just stated, "Kyoko is smart, very smart, I – I'm sure she'll come around soon. I – If you don't f – fear for your life, I guess you could just try talking to her when we're going to your house t – tomorrow."

"Yeah," He nodded, "I might do that." He smiled at her, "Thanks, you were actually a big help."

Her eyes widened, as if she were surprised that he thanked her, and she looked away, "Y – You're just m – making fun of me, aren't you!" She gritted her teeth, "You're horrible!"

"No, I'm serious!" He replied, sitting up, "Thank you for giving me advice, and for cleaning the cut."

Toko eyed him a little longer, before she nodded slowly, "You're… welcome, I guess." She slowly stood up, and crossed her arms, "Well, just get some rest for now, you need to heal that up soon! We don't want it to get infected."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll do that." He waved off, "I'll rest for a few hours and then wake up to talk to Hina!" He balled up his fists, glad to have a plan set, "If she's honestly feeling guilty, then we _really_ need to clear that up, and then I can talk to Kyoko!"

"Yeah," Toko mumbled, "You have fun with that." A glint appeared in her eyes, and a smile crossed her face, "I in the meantime am going to go visit Byakuya!" She blushed bright red just imagining it, and Makoto watched her practically skip out of the room.

"I _still_ don't understand what she sees in him," He mumbled, watching her leave his room, shutting the door behind her. He shook his head, deciding it was probably not worth thinking about, and he leaned back onto the bed, crossing his arms behind his head so he could prop it up, and he just thought about things. He did try to get to sleep, but what must have been an hour or so, he got up, and decided to head downstairs.

He secretly hoped Aoi would be there, but he felt disappointed as he spotted Yasuhiro sitting at the kitchen table, his eyes glued to the destroyed patio door. The kitchen, unlike the rooms upstairs, was a complete mess. The smell of rotten food was prominent, and all the drawers were opened, with kitchen knives and ever some blood scattered around. Makoto averted his eyes, and instead went to sit on the opposite side of the table.

"Makoto?" Yasuhiro glanced up and saw him, "What's up? What are you doin here?"

Makoto weighed his options, wondering whether to be straight forward or evasive, and finally he sighed, deciding that since Yasuhiro was a friend, he'd be honest. "I'm waiting for Hina, she's supposed to watch after you, right?"

Yasuhiro nodded, "Yeah, but what are you – wait, are you two…?"

"Are we…" He suddenly blushed, and shook his head rapidly, "N – No! Nothing like that!"

"Oh, ok." Yasuhiro sighed, "Cause, you know, I'd prefer it if you two did something like that when you're _not_ watching the door, you know?"

"We're not together like that at all! We haven't d – done that!" Makoto exclaimed, his blush getting even brighter as his thoughts lingered on it, much to his distress.

"Oh, ok," Yasuhiro nodded, "Coulda fooled me." He chuckled as Makoto again started sputtering, and he waved his hands, "I'm kidding, it was a joke, calm down!"

Makoto coughed into his hand, trying to recompose himself and finally he looked back up, and noticed that while Yasuhiro was chuckling, he was still looking out the back door. He looked as well, and asked, "So… Have any tried to come in?"

"Nah," Yasuhiro shook his head, "I think I saw a few wandering out there, but none have come to investigate." He yawned, "And thank god for that, I don't really feel like dealing with them this late at night."

"I don't really feel like dealing with them ever," Makoto shot back, causing Yasuhiro to nod in agreement.

"That's true." He chuckled, "So, you said you came down to see Hina right? What's that about?"

"Oh," His mood dropping a bit as he recalled what Toko told him, "Toko told me that she was avoiding me and that she apparently felt guilty for what happened."

Yasuhiro nodded, "Ah, I see. She feels responsible for what happened then?" At Makoto's nod, Yasuhiro sighed, "Yeah, Byakuya and Kyoko both seemed to think that. When we were waiting for you guys, Byakuya kept saying how bad of an idea it was, and how he was pissed that Hina forced you to do it."

"What?" Makoto shook his head, "No, Hina didn't make me do anything!"

"Well…" Yasuhiro paused, and said slowly, "Actually… You seemed ready to back out when Kyoko was sayin it was bad, you know?" He saw Makoto nod, and he continued, "But then Hina backed you up, and after that you went."

"So you're saying that it _is_ Hina's fault?" Makoto asked, his eyes narrowing, "I'm not an idiot you know, I went because I wanted to, not because Hina forced me to!"

Yasuhiro waved his hands in front of him, "H – Hold on, don't get mad at me! I'm just saying what I heard Byakuya and Kyoko saying, alright? I have nothing against you or Hina!"

Makoto calmed down, and leaned back in his seat, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you."

Yasuhiro shrugged, "Eh, after everything we've faced over the last week, I think you're allowed to snap once or twice…" He paused, "I think you should really talk to Kyoko though, man."

"What?" Makoto blinked in surprise, "I want to, but why do you think so?"

Yasuhiro looked down to the table at his fingers, and tried to figure out how best to articulate it, and finally settled on, "I think she's been…" He paused, "Yeah, I think she's bottling up everything inside, you know?" He saw Makoto nod, "When she snapped yesterday, that wasn't normal – most people wouldn't just suddenly... do _that_ to others."

"Well, Hina and I were in trouble." Makoto reminded him.

"I know that, but you had to have noticed that she went for kill shots each time – All of those men died because of her…" Yasuhiro saw Makoto nod again, "That wasn't necessary, and she did it because she was really angry." He shook his head, "No, _extremely _angry! I thought I was watching a demon!"

Makoto frowned, "But… Byakuya was telling us earlier that she _had_ to kill them."

Yasuhiro averted his eyes and shrugged, "Maybe, but it was just _how_ she was acting. I think the bottle she kept her emotions in just exploded, and it all came rushing out as one hateful torrent… That can't be healthy, man."

Makoto nodded, "Yeah, to tell you the truth, I've suspected as much already."

"Oh, really?" Yasuhiro asked curiously.

"Yeah, I thought it would be alright to leave alone for now though, because I didn't think she'd want to talk about it, but…" He groaned, burying his face in his hands, "I'm such an idiot, I should have said something."

"We all make mistakes, man, and we're all just lucky to be alive." He stood up and stretched, "Anyway, my time's about up, I'll go get Hina for you now." He chuckled at Makoto's red face, and as he left he stopped, "But really, you should talk to Kyoko soon, I don't know how she'll handle having what she did today on her conscious."

With that, he left, leaving Makoto there to brood on it. It wasn't like he didn't want to talk to Kyoko, but she was just so intimidating to approach at times. He cursed to himself for his cowardice however, and leaned back in his chair angrily, and looked out the smashed door, making sure none of the zombies were coming near.

"Makoto?" Aoi voice's echoed in the empty room, "Hiro said someone was waiting for me down here… I wasn't expecting it to be you though."

"Who _were_ you expecting?" Makoto asked, unable to hide his curiosity.

She sat down in the seat Yasuhiro vacated, and gave a non-committal shrug, "I dunno, I guess either Kyoko or Byakuya."

"Huh? Why them?" He asked. Well, come to think of it, he could name a few reasons he supposed, especially when it came to earlier that day.

"About how I screwed up earlier…" She mumbled, her voice cracking as she said it, "Is that why you're here then?"

"Well…" He paused, watching her wipe her eyes, "Yeah, I am." He decided to come clean again.

"Ah… Have you come to yell at me?" She whimpered quietly.

"If I yelled, wouldn't that attract the zombies to us?" She shrugged, still looking downtrodden, so he continued, "But no, that's not why I'm here, I'm not mad at all, actually."

"You're not?" She looked up now, and it pained Makoto to see such a surprised expression so clearly visible on her face.

"No, why would I be?" He asked, "I thought it was _you_ who would be mad at me!"

"What?" A look of pure confusion was on her face, "B – But you nearly died! If I didn't make you go, then none of that would have happened!"

"I didn't die though," He pointed out the obvious first, "And Hina… You honestly thought I would be mad at you? I went out of my own will! Sure, you might have pushed me to do it a little, but I'm responsible for my own actions!"

"But – but!" she cried, "If it weren't for me… It's all my fault!" She lowered her head onto the table, covering her eyes with her hands.

"It's _my_ fault." He insisted, causing her to look up, "I was the one who made the call to follow them into the gas station – it was because of that you almost were…" He gritted his teeth – the mere idea of those men getting their dirty hands over her body nearly set him over the edge.

"But you made that call_ because_ of me, didn't you? I saw you looking towards me! If I said we couldn't go, then that would have been it!" She claimed, tears falling down from her eyes now.

He paused, watching her begin to cry – did she really think it was her fault? She was carrying this inside of her all day, and she didn't even bother to try talking to him or anyone else about it? "Hina… No one blames you for it. It's not your fault, so please stop crying." For now, he pushed his concerns for Kyoko to the back of his mind as he focused on Aoi in front of him, "I thought you'd be mad at me, personally."

"Well I'm not," She shook her head, "How could I? I feel so guilty for nearly getting you kill, and for forcing Kyoko to do what she had to do… It's burning me up on the inside…" She placed a hand over her heart, "I'm so sorry… It's my fault…"

Makoto wondered if he should go over and hug her, or just do _something_. She looked so small and lonely by herself on that side of the table, blaming herself for everything. "I already told you that I don't blame you for it, Hina," He tried again, "Please believe me."

"Y – You really don't hate me?" It was so quiet that he barely heard it, but he could understand the under tone of fear and desperation under it. It was distressing to suddenly realize that you could completely ruin a person by saying the wrong words, and Makoto realized that Aoi was walking along a very thin line.

"No, I don't." He replied, "How could I? We're friends, and I never blamed you for it in the first place."

"I – I was planning on running," She admitted softly, "After what Byakuya told us earlier, I – I felt worthless. I nearly got you killed, and I forced Kyoko to kill all of those people… I figured you guys would be better off without me… I'm just a burden."

Makoto's jaw nearly dropped, "WHAT?" He cried, his voice echoing in the room, "Are you an _idiot _Hina?!"

"No! I thought about this a lot! Byakuya hates me, Toko doesn't like me, and now Kyoko hates me too! I thought you hated me, but… you're different!" She shook her head, "If I ran, I – I thought no one would care!"

"You can't go!" Makoto shook in his seat, and abruptly stood, his chair nearly falling to the ground, "I refuse to allow you to go! We _have_ to stick together! You're far too valuable to us to go, you really are stupid aren't you!"

Now Aoi was the one to be surprised to see tears beginning to flow down his face, and she asked quietly, "Y – You really mean all of that?"

"Yes! I really do!" He cried, "If you left, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing you're out there alone with those monsters! I'd force the group to come find you!" He said it with so much conviction, that Aoi felt her heart beat hard for a second, and her cheeks colored. "Why do you feel that way? Is it because I didn't talk to you? I'm sorry, I was just thinking about how I would apologize to Kyoko! _Please_ don't go… I'm begging you…"

"I – I won't…" She muttered, looking out the door they were supposed to be watching to make sure that all the noise they made didn't attract any unwanted attention. When she was sure they didn't, she turned her attention back to him, "I – I just thought…"

"You were wrong!" He exclaimed, shaking his head, "I could _never_ hate you or anyone! I can't hate Byakuya, even if he can be kind of an asshole sometimes!" He was gasping for breath, realizing belatedly that by getting so distressed that his body started pumping him up with adrenaline. He sat back down in his chair, his arms still shaking.

Despite her tears, she couldn't help but smile – Makoto didn't hate her, and he felt so strongly about wanting her to stay too! "T – Thank you…" She muttered through her tears, "I think I really needed to hear that…"

He let out a sigh, "Just… Please… Never make impulse decision like that. If you had just talked to anyone of us, even Kyoko or Byakuya, they would have told you not to go."

"I don't know about Byakuya…" She mumbled.

"No, even he wouldn't want you to go." He replied, sounding utterly convinced, "Are you forgetting about how you can kill those monsters so easily with your bow, or that you're the most physically fit of us all? If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have gotten this far at all. In the city none of us would have had a bow, and we would have to fight the monsters up close or use the guns."

"I – I guess so." She murmured, her eyes looking away from him evasively, "I never really thought of that."

He sighed, she _still_ didn't sound convinced at all. Did this mean that she was still planning to run? She said she wouldn't, but he didn't know if he could trust her in this state. Standing back up, he walked around the table to her, and he ignored her confused stare as he wrapped his arms around her rather awkwardly. "It's all true, everything I've said." He whispered into her ear.

The hug alone made her blush, but what he said afterwards – how the air tickled her ear slightly, how he seemed so compassionate about it, she couldn't help but feel her entire body turn warm. Honestly, when she came down, she didn't expect this – she expected to be yelled at by an angry Byakuya, or scolded by Kyoko, not confront Makoto, who was so worried that he was willing to go to this length to prove to her how much he wanted her to stay. She finally lifted her own arms up, and wrapped them around him as well, closing her eyes as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

She didn't really know how long they stayed like that, nor did she really care. It just felt so nice to feel _wanted_ by someone. She felt so lost earlier, but now… Her worries were all baseless, and she couldn't help but feel a bit foolish herself. While she was blaming herself the entire time, Makoto was doing the exact same thing… If only they had talked earlier, before she made her decision to leave… If he hadn't been down here waiting, she would have made a terrible mistake.

She felt him loosening his grip after a little bit, and hesitantly she did the same, letting go of him, allowing him to move. Briefly, their faces were mere inches from one another, the mood was right for intimacy – she was more than willing to go through with it – but then he pulled away, and the moment passed. She felt her heart beating rapidly, and her face was incredibly red as she suddenly realized that she truly did love him…

"Sorry about that…" He muttered rubbing the back of his head, "I guess I got a bit too emotional there…" He looked aside, and both of them quickly glanced at the smashed door, glad to see no monsters coming in through it.

"It's all right," She replied back to him, feeling very awkward all of the sudden, "I – uh – I think I might have needed that." She felt a lot calmer, and the emotional turmoil within herself was finally settling down.

"Heh… Well… Um…" He sat down back in the seat on the other side of the table, and awkwardly began to play around with his fingers. He didn't say anything else, and just stared down at his hands, feeling awkward.

"Um… Earlier today," Aoi tried to change the subject, not wanting the awkward atmosphere to last, "You mentioned something about recognizing this area?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I guess I did say something about that." He remembered, scratching his cheek sheepishly, "What about it?"

"Why didn't you mention it to us?" She asked.

"I don't know," He shrugged, "I guess I just didn't think it was important." She noticed how he looked away, though she still caught the painful expression on his face.

"You're lying," She deduced immediately, "It's because you didn't want to remind us of our own families and home again, isn't it?"

He blinked in surprise, "How did you figure that out?"

"Because it _always_ comes up when you talk about something related to your home. You're pretty predictable." She replied, "Next time, try not to hide something like that, alright? We seriously don't mind. You can trust us."

He nodded, "Yeah… Ok."

"So… This looked like it was once a pretty nice neighborhood, is your home like this?" She asked, changing the subject slightly. She watched him light up as he explained his home to her, and like that night a few days before, they began to talk about all sorts of different things. She smiled, glad to see him in such a good mood, and she kept the topics going.

Makoto meanwhile, was glad that Aoi was doing fine, but there were still two very important lingering thoughts in his head. First, he needed to confront Kyoko, hopefully tomorrow would present itself with an opportunity to do so, and secondly, he couldn't stop dreading the fact that tomorrow, he would be home after two long years.

XxXxXxX

A'N - I just want to address something briefly: I know this story has a very heavy Aoi/Makoto focus right now, but it'll lighten up and the other characters will get their time to shine soon. Even as I was writing it, I was noticing how I was neglecting the other four characters, so I made sure to fix it in future chapters.

Thank you for reading!


	5. Family

Chapter Five

Family

Makoto's entire body shook as he opened the front door of his home, and stepped slowly inside. Out of pure habit he took his shoes off at the foyer, and then stepped up onto a wooden floor. He looked around – there were still picture frames hanging on the wall, and to his left he could see the living room where the video from the first motive was. As it was in the video, the couch was completely torn up, the windows behind it were cracked, and in some instances smashed. The drapes over the windows were similarly torn, and there was no sign of his family still.

He stepped into the living room, not even caring as the others stood back, watching him walk around his family's house. His eyes were wide as he looked around, trying to find a note or anything left by his family. Seeing the room empty, he stepped into the next room, which was the kitchen. Like the room before, it was completely ruined, and he let shook his head, leaving the kitchen and going back into the hall where they walked in.

He went to the room on the right this time, it was a sitting room, by the looks of it, though the bookshelves were all knocked over, the chairs were ripped, torn, and thrown around, and everything was in ruins. This went on for every room downstairs, he didn't find a single sign of his family anywhere, so he again returned to the main hall, and went up the stairs, where their bedrooms were. He visited his sister's room first, and saw that her bed was flipped over, and everything was tossed around, even the collection of dolls she treasured so much were carelessly on the floor, a layer of dust coating them.

His panicked steps ran to the next door – his parent's room, and just like his sister's room before it, it was completely trashed. The bed was ripped apart, their dressers were completely empty, and everything was knocked over. Looking over to his mother's vanity, it was the same situation, though the entire piece of furniture itself was knocked down and destroyed. He swallowed the hard lump of despair gripping him, and he went to the last door – his own room, and he tried to open it, except the door was locked.

He recalled where his key was always hidden though, and after fetching it from a secret hole in the wall near the floor, he opened up the door to his room. Unlike every room in his house, his room wasn't destroyed, though there was still a fine layer of dust everything. His bed still had sheets on, his dresser was undisturbed, his collection of comics was still neatly organized in his bookshelf, but there was still no sign of his family, there wasn't even a single note.

Defeated, he sat down on his bed, and placed his head in his hands. He knew it was a long shot, but he had hoped that maybe he was wrong. Maybe his family would still be here, and he could introduce all of my friends to them. Then they could have a nice warm shower and stay over… Anything was better than this reality.

"Makoto…" Aoi muttered, stepping into his room, her eyes widened at the condition it was all in, "Wow… I've almost forgotten what a clean room looks like."

"They probably kept it locked so it would be undisturbed for when I eventually came home. Though I think mom probably came in here to change the sheets occasionally." He shook his head, "They kept it locked this whole time… I guess that kept it safe from the looters…"

Aoi averted her eyes. She couldn't say she knew exactly how he felt, since he now had confirmation that his home was just like the rest of the places they visited, but she had a good idea of how he felt. Letting out a soft breath, she sat beside him, and gently touched his shoulder, "Are you ok?"

Byakuya already left the room along with Toko, probably aware that Makoto needed space, and that it would be best if they weren't around. Yasuhiro looked concerned, but after a few seconds, he too left. Kyoko was the only one still standing in the doorway, and she watched Aoi sit beside Makoto with a strange feeling in her chest. She couldn't say she exactly liked it, but she knew that Aoi could handle this alone. So crushing her jealously, Kyoko left the room, not before giving a short nod to Aoi, who returned it with one of her own.

"This was pointless after all," Makoto murmured, "They didn't leave a note or anything, and everything's ruined."

"It wasn't all pointless!" Aoi pointed out, trying to be upbeat and positive, since Makoto's optimism was evidently gone, "A – At least you know…"

He stiffly nodded, "I guess… I don't really know if it's really any consolation to know that they're probably dead, just like everyone else."

She looked away, unable to bear seeing him so depressed, so she instead looked around the room, her eyes wandering the walls, which were clean of almost all sorts of wall decorations. She would have at least figured that he would have a calendar hanging, or maybe a few posters. "Well… We knew this was the most likely outcome…" She muttered, feeling awful for bringing it up.

"Yeah, but like I said, I just hoped…" He sighed, "No, I was just being stupid. It… It just hurts. I wanted to escape Monokuma's game so badly so I could come help my family, they meant so much to me… And now I think… I've finally come to realize that I'll never see them again."

She noticed the tears welling up in his eyes, and she politely looked away, giving him a little bit of privacy. Honestly though, seeing his home like this, and knowing that her parents lived in a big city… It was also eye opening to her. "I'm sorry…" She mumbled, reaching up and wiping her own tears away.

He was so excited to come here, but under all of that excitement was always this underlying fear, and now that it was realized, he just couldn't stop crying… He felt like an idiot, crying about something where the result was so obvious, but he did so anyway. He covered his eyes with his hands, and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "Damn it…" He mumbled, "Damn it…"

They allowed the silence to thicken, and they both just sat there, tears falling for the loss of family, and for the realization of that loss. There was nothing Aoi could do for him, and so she only set his hand on his shoulder, just staying there with him as he cried for his loss. She had to be strong right now – Makoto helped her before, so it was only right that she help him through this.

Her throat was dry, but she forced words to form, "You know…" She whispered so quietly that Makoto didn't even hear her, so she was forced to speak a little louder, "M – Makoto…" Now she had his attention, and seeing his tearful eyes, she lost what she was about to say.

"What?" He asked, his voice shaky, "I – I'll be fine, if that's what you're asking… Just give me a little while. I just… I need to be alone."

A stab of pain went through her – did he not like her presence? Was she just making things worse? She sighed, and knew it wasn't that – the poor boy was just mourning his family, and he wanted to be alone. If she were in his position, she undoubtedly would want the same. She let go of his shoulder, and got off her feet, and walked over to the door. "We'll be downstairs, Makoto. Take your time."

"Yeah…" Was the only reply, his form not moving an inch.

Aoi was about to leave the room, but she stopped, and she turned back to look at him. If she didn't say this now, she wouldn't have the courage to ever say it, so she opened her mouth again, "M – Makoto!" She called, and he looked up at her, "I know it hurts a lot… But… We're your family too, right? We all love you too." Her cheeks were bright red, and even he looked surprised, "I – I mean… L – Love as in family… We need each other, like you said yesterday."

He still looked surprised, but at least his tears momentarily stopped, and despite his pain and sadness, she was glad to see a glimmer of a smile return to his face. "Th – Thanks, Hina." He replied.

"You're welcome." She answered, and then she left the room, her face incredibly red. She couldn't believe she just told him that she _loved_ him! Though, she did chicken out and say it was as 'family', but still, it seemed to really make him happy! Despite their circumstance, Aoi felt better about things as she walked down the stairs, and into the living room, where everyone else was currently waiting.

All of them had their backpacks taken off, and were just standing around. Byakuya looked impatient as he leaned against the wall, though he once again surprised Aoi by not even asking her when Makoto would be ready to leave. Maybe he did have a sliver of emotion within him after all. Yasuhiro was sitting on the couch, looking down at the ground sadly, while Toko was sitting beside him, also in a similar state. Kyoko was looking out the window into the neighborhood, and slowly turned to look at her as she approached.

"How is he?" Kyoko asked quietly, keeping her voice low so it was only between the two of them.

"He's sad about it, but he'll be ok." She replied confidently, "He just needs a little bit of time to himself. I told him to take as much time as he wanted, then we can leave afterwards."

Kyoko nodded approvingly, "Good." She then turned back to looking out the window, as if she were oblivious to them all again.

"Um, Kyoko…" She mumbled, getting the girl's attention again, "Can we talk? I've been meaning to talk to you since yesterday, when…" She frowned, the memory still stung, and she hated recalling it, "When _that_ happened."

Kyoko turned back towards her, and stared at her for the longest time, before she gave the tiniest of nods, "Yes. I suppose so. I've been meaning to talk to Makoto about it, but I suppose I can talk to you if you wish."

"Good," Aoi sighed, glad to see that Kyoko wasn't doing her silent treatment again, "Then… Can we talk in the kitchen? I don't want others to hear us…"

Again, Kyoko gave her another long stare, but she nodded after a little bit, "I suppose we can do so."

Aoi led them through the ruined living room into the kitchen, spotting Byakuya glancing towards them. Seeing Kyoko following her, he seemed to understand, and looked back forward. She led Kyoko into the kitchen, and then both leaned against the counters, trying to ignore the smell of rotten food coming from the fridge.

"What do you wish to talk about?" Kyoko asked as she leaned against the counter, looking straight at Aoi, "you said it was in regards to yesterday, right?"

Aoi nodded, "Yes… I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry for not listening to you." She bowed her head low, "Please forgive me…"

"Lift your head, Hina," Kyoko sighed, and Aoi looked up to see a very weary expression on the girl's face, "You don't need my forgiveness, you did nothing wrong."

Aoi blinked in surprise, "You know, you're a lot like Makoto, he said the same thing to me." She saw a ghost of a smile flash on Kyoko's face, but it was gone almost the second it appeared, and soon her weariness was apparent once again. "Kyoko… Are you ok? You don't really look so good."

"I'm sorry," Kyoko muttered, "I'm just tired…" She took a deep breath, and as if her emotions were never there, her façade was firmly in place once more. If Aoi wasn't aware that she was hiding her emotions, she would have thought the girl to be completely emotionless. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"No, you won't be…" Aoi shook her head, "Kyoko, it can't be healthy to do that. You always hide your emotions, and never let anyone know how you really feel."

"What point would that serve?" Kyoko asked, "Perhaps with the exception of Byakuya, you all look for me to get encouragement… If I show fear, that will only harm us as a group. I can't show my emotions for that purpose."

"But if you keep this up, you're going to crash." Aoi exclaimed, "We're not weak, Kyoko, we can handle it. We're friends, we should be able to express how we feel to each other!"

"Now who's the one sounding like Makoto?" Kyoko asked, causing the girl to blush.

"You're avoiding the issue," Aoi accused, giving Kyoko a glare, "Don't change the subject."

"You say we're friends, but are we really? Prior to escaping Hope's Peak Academy, we never really talked that much, and we've only been out for just a week, and we're supposed to be friends?" She gave Aoi a questioning look, "I don't see you claiming Byakuya is your friend, since you seem to dislike him very much."

Aoi frowned, "Kyoko… After all we've been through, you don't consider us friends? Remember when we were inside? That was our driving force – we refused to kill each other because we were friends… Did that not mean anything to you?"

Kyoko looked away, and shook her head, "I… I spoke harshly, I apologize." She rubbed her brow with her gloved hand, "I've just been really… stressed these past few days."

"You can talk to me," Aoi repeated, "it's not healthy for you to be like this."

The weary expression returned again as Kyoko dropped her façade once more, and she just looked to the ground, "I'm just tired… I wish we could just rest and not have to worry about the monsters outside, or about moving every day."

"Maybe we can just spend a day here?" Aoi suggested, "We can barricade the doors and just stay inside! Makoto has a really neat manga collection that we can read!" she desperately thought of things to say to try and make her feel better, but Kyoko's expression never changed.

"We _have_ to keep moving, our rations dwindle more and more every day. We have maybe four days of food left now… At this rate we may want to start only eating once a day to try and conserve our food even more." She grimaced as she said that, and Aoi wasn't too keen on the idea either.

"Well…" Aoi paused, trying to think of something to say, "Maybe you can just step down from being the leader for a while?"

"I've been doing that," Kyoko claimed, "Surely you've notice that I've allowed Byakuya to lead us more often now. He was born for that kind of role after all." She rolled her eyes, and Aoi was just surprised to see Kyoko express displeasure towards him with the eye roll – seeing Kyoko even do that was kind of a novelty.

"I see…" Aoi muttered, "I'm sorry I haven't noticed… None of us have. You're a good leader though, we all trust you to guide us. It was you who ended up saving us all in the Academy, so I guess it was just natural for us to follow your lead after that."

"And I accepted that role blindly, but that was before all of this," She spread her arms out, gesturing to the ruined room, "I didn't know the world was like this at all… Junko didn't really give us a good idea of what to expect, and I suspect she didn't tell us this much because she knew our despair at learning about this situation for ourselves would outweigh our knowledge of it when we were still safely inside."

"Yeah… I guess that's true." She narrowed her eyes hateful at the mere thought of Junko, if there was one person Aoi could honestly say she hated, it would be her.

"In a way I'm glad she didn't reveal it though," Kyoko muttered, "If I had known before, I don't know if I would have chosen to save Makoto…" She looked to the ground, her face twisting into one of self-loathing and sadness, "I'm not as strong as you think I am…"

Aoi was alarmed to see her like that, so she walked over and wrapped her arms around her without even thinking, "That's not true Kyoko! You are stronger than all of us!"

"Even though I just admitted to you my weakness?" She asked, sounding confused, "I _like_ Makoto, and I just admitted that I might have actually considered killing him so we could stay inside of that Academy forever… So we could have food, power, water, a safe place to sleep…" She listed off, "Doesn't that make me a bad person?"

"If Makoto were here, I know he would disagree with you. It's human nature to want to be away from danger, isn't it?" Aoi replied, still hugging Kyoko, "And we can't really know for sure what we would have picked back then if we knew what we know now – it's no use thinking about it." She gently knocked Kyoko on the back of the head, "Has that been bothering you this entire time?"

Kyoko shakily grabbed Aoi, and hugged her back, "I'm… Not very familiar with doing things like this." She whispered quietly, "I don't have much experience with friends… Well, that I can recall anyway." She closed her eyes, "Thank you."

"It's no problem!" Aoi responded, feeling like she was finally connecting with Kyoko. Sure they've been traveling together, but they never really talked this much before. "If you ever have any problems, you can always talk to me! I guess you could talk to Makoto too if you wanted, but I'll always be here to talk to you if you need another girl to talk to!"

Kyoko nodded, letting go of Aoi, somehow feeling a bit… refreshed, she supposed. She felt a small smile working its way onto her face, "I suppose it is a bit foolish for me to think about how I would have reacted after all this time. You're right, thinking about 'what ifs' won't get me anywhere."

"Exactly!" Aoi nodded enthusiastically, leaning on the counter right beside Kyoko now. She just felt a lot better now – she managed to get Makoto to cheer up a little, and now she was comforting Kyoko too! Despite the loss of family, she felt like she was gaining something else in return – something with her friends that she didn't have before.

"M – May I ask you something, then?" Kyoko stuttered, averting her eyes, "I couldn't help but notice that you and Makoto seem a bit… closer now."

Aoi's eyes widened, and she remembered her promise to Kyoko, to step aside if that is what Kyoko wanted. "Yeah… We talked a lot recently." She mumbled, "I – I think I might like him too…" She revealed, her cheeks heating a tad bit.

If Kyoko was surprised, she didn't show it, instead she just nodded. "I've noticed. What occurred between you two last night?" She asked, "I mean…" She realized she was sounding like an interrogator, "You don't need to tell me, I suppose, if you don't want to."

Aoi chuckled, glad to see Kyoko doing her best to be a friend, and she looked towards the ceiling, "Well, after what happened yesterday, I was feeling really guilty, and I was kind of in a dark place mentally…" She saw Kyoko give her a curious eye, "I mean… I thought everyone hated me because of what happened… I felt like I forced you to k – kill those men, I felt like I forced Makoto into that position…"

Kyoko's eyes darkened immediately upon the mention of the men she murdered, and she looked away, "Please don't mention that…" She muttered, "I'd rather not think about it…"

Aoi nodded, "I'm sorry… But anyway, due to all of _that_, I thought I was a burden to the group, and I planned to run away."

Kyoko's eyes widened, and she looked over to Aoi in alarm, "What? Are you serious?" Her normally calm voice cracked, and she looked very worried.

"I'm not leaving, don't worry!" She answered, letting out an internal sigh as Kyoko calmed down, "But that is what I thought yesterday. If I hadn't talked to Makoto last night, I probably would have gone through with it too."

"It's good he was there," Kyoko muttered, "If you left, I would have taken control of the group away from Byakuya and went to get you back, there's no way we would let you wander out there alone!" She actually glared at Aoi, "That was a _stupid_ thought."

Aoi actually let out an undignified laugh, and covered her mouth as her cheeks turned red, "Um, sorry, but Makoto said something almost exactly like that to me yesterday."

Kyoko allowed another small smile on her face, "Good. I would expect nothing else from him."

"Yeah… He just sat there, and we talked for a little while, and it really helped me calm down…" She wondered if she should mention their almost-kiss, but she decided to omit it out of embarrassment, "And… He was just so nice… I think I understand how you feel about him now…"

Kyoko looked troubled, "So you…" She turned red, "L – Love him too?" She couldn't look Aoi in the face as she said it aloud, though Aoi was also bright red, and looked down to the floor.

"Y – Yeah…" She admitted, "I know I told you that I wouldn't get in your way, but… Now I don't know if I can do that…"

Kyoko sighed, "Well…" She looked at Aoi again – her friend, her rival, her companion, and at the moment, she was all the family she had. She let out another sigh, and tried to go through her feelings. "I'm… jealous… Of how close you two have gotten."

"I know… Earlier when we were in his room, you were looking at me for a little bit before leaving." Aoi replied, "I could tell you were then."

"Yes, I was, but I could tell that you were having a good effect being there with him, so I let you stay…" She groaned, "I don't know what I'm supposed to do in this kind of situation… I've never been in l – love with anyone before, and I haven't had a friend like you either… I don't want to lose either of you…"

"Well, we don't have to be rivals, I guess, if that's what you mean." Aoi muttered, "With how the world is right now, we have a lot more things to worry about. I don't want to fight you for Makoto either…"

Kyoko smiled, glad to know that Aoi was at least similarly conflicted, "Then in that case, I guess we could share?" She blushed, "I mean, I get too spend a little time with him, and then you can, and we just keep switching."

Aoi smiled at the smile solution, "That sounds good!" Then she frowned however as she thought more on it, "But… What if one of us eventually starts to get romantically involved or something?" Her face was again red at bringing up such an embarrassing topic.

"Then I guess we'll stop doing that…" Kyoko replied, looking a bit saddened at the thought. "I don't want to jeopardize our friendship, no matter how strongly I feel about Makoto, and I don't want to create distance with him due to my jealousy either…"

Aoi nodded, "Yeah… That sounds fair."

The two smiled at each other, and Kyoko felt glad to know that there was an understanding between them now. She was worried about many things, and she _still_ was, but at least the whole situation with Makoto was settled for now. With that weight off her shoulder, she felt a little more relaxed, and closed her eyes, waiting for Makoto to come down from his room.

Another few hours passed before Byakuya finally heard footsteps on the stairs, and he glanced over to see Makoto walking over, wiping his eyes on the sleeves of his sweatshirt. "Welcome back," He muttered, "Are you ready to go now?"

Makoto nodded, "Yeah… I'm sorry for wasting so much time."

He expected Byakuya to say something snide, but he didn't expect him to shake his head and reply, "I understand." He left it at that, and walked towards his backpack, "Go get the others and tell them you're ready to go. We still have a few more hours we can use to travel."

Makoto stared wide eyes at Byakuya, but shook it off, and did as he was told. Soon, all six of them were gathered at the front door, and Makoto was staring wistfully back, his eyes beginning to get a little watery once again. He knew that this was the last time he would ever step foot here, his childhood home would be left to the ravages of time. Though his lips trembled, he let out a shaky breath, and led the group out of the building.

The rest of the day was relatively quiet, with only a few chances of small talk here and there. Aoi led the group for now, using her arrows to pick off any of the undead well before they got close to them, though she would occasionally glance towards Makoto to make sure he was doing ok, despite the fact that every time her attention shifted from her job leading the group through the undead, Byakuya would give her a cold glare.

After talking to Kyoko and Makoto, Aoi's thoughts have been turning slowly towards Byakuya – she didn't like him at all, that much was clear. She thought he was a stuck up bastard who had no regard for anyone's feelings but his own. However, Makoto seemed to disagree, and because of that, she supposed she would be willing to try talking to him eventually… Makoto was right in that they needed to rely on each other, and she wasn't sure if she could trust him.

While Aoi was thinking of that, Makoto's thoughts kept turning towards Kyoko. He had promised himself that he would talk to her, and _thankfully_ she seemed to stop giving him the cold shoulder after what happened at his home. Still, he couldn't let it rest, he had to speak to her eventually, so he worked up his courage, and slowed down, so he was near the back of the group where Kyoko was walking alone.

Kyoko immediately noticed him slowing down, and though she initially thought he was lost in thought, the moment he looked at her, she realized it was intentional. She nodded curtly towards him, "Is there something you wanted to say, Makoto?" She didn't smile – when they were out in the open, traveling on the street with the undead lurking about, she could hardly afford to express her true feelings.

"I wanted to talk to you about yesterday," He admitted, "And I wanted to apologize."

She held up her hand, stopping him from continuing, "Don't worry about it. Aoi and I have talked about this already, and I told her that it's alright. I don't blame you two for what you did."

He blinked in surprise, and he glanced forward to look at Aoi, who was busy lining up a shot with her bow. "Oh…" He mumbled, his gaze turning back to Kyoko, "Well, that's good, but there's something else I wanted to talk to you about too."

"Hm?" She stopped along with the rest of the group, his senses heightened as they stood still, waiting for Aoi to clear the road ahead of them.

"It's about what _you_ did yesterday…" He muttered, not wanting to directly refer to the event, "How you… reacted."

Her eyes hardened, any shine that was in them disappeared, and she looked towards the ground, "Don't talk about that…" She mumbled, telling him the same thing she told Aoi, "I don't want to talk about it."

He wanted to back off and let that be the end of it. He wished he could back off, and not feel like he was forcing his way into her issues, but he let out a sigh. Life wasn't always easy, and doing what you thought was right would occasionally mean going against what your friends wanted. "I – I think you should talk about it, get it off your chest."

She ignored him as she looked off into the distance. They were still in a rural area, homes all around them, the sun was still providing enough light for them to travel, and the road was clear for the most part. She turned her attention back to Makoto, "No. I forgive you, and that's that." She replied, "There's no need to go over it again."

"But… Everyone's worried about you." He muttered, "Me, Hina, and Hiro all feel like you're bottling things up. Doesn't it bother you what you did? You can confide in me…" He wished so badly that she would just agree to talk, but she shook her head.

"I – I don't want to." Her voice cracked, though her emotionless façade never faded. She took a deep breath, and then her voice was even again, "Trust me, Makoto, like you did back then in the Academy." She stared right into his eyes, "I'm fine."

Makoto wished he didn't nod, but he felt like that if he pushed her anymore, she would begin to lash out, and right here wasn't a good place to do that. Though he was far from done when it came to her, he gave her a little space, and proceeded to look around the area, the place he used to call home. It was difficult, seeing it in ruins, but in a way he supposed it was necessary. Now that he saw this, he wouldn't hold anything back to protect his friends – his new family.

"Stop!" Aoi whispered urgently, bringing the entire group to a halt, and Makoto looked towards her questioningly. They were at a four way, and Aoi pressed herself again the wall nearby that was surrounding a house at one of the four corners. Makoto felt his instincts telling him to mimic her, and within seconds, the entire group was doing the same thing she was.

"What's the meaning of this?" Byakuya asked, though his hand was in his pocket where Makoto knew he kept the pistol.

"Survivors are just around the corner," She whispered, "Take a look!"

Makoto tensed as she said the words, and his hand went over his shoulder and firmly grasped the hilt of his sword, ready to unsheathe it within a second if the need for it came. Kyoko also tensed up, and like Byakuya, her hand dipped into her pocket. Toko looked ready to panic, but she forced herself to calm down with a few quick breaths, and Yasuhiro gripped the handle of the survival knife closer to himself.

"Let me see," Byakuya ordered, and Aoi complied, moving away from her spot on the edge so Byakua could occupy it. His back firmly against the wall now, Byakuya peeked his head around the corner to assess the situation. "There's only two of them, a boy and a girl, and I can't see them holding any weaponry." He announced, "I suggest we avoid them."

"Given what happened yesterday, I agree." Kyoko replied, giving Makoto a very long stare.

"Y – Yeah…" He stuttered, his feelings in array. He so wanted to trust these people – one of them was a girl this time – but given how their last meeting went, he wasn't too keen on meeting new people. He hated that fact, but it was true. Aoi likewise made no objections, and Toko obviously didn't object, since Byakuya wanted to avoid them.

"Are you sure?" Yasuhiro asked, the only one who raised his voice, "M – Maybe we can get some food off of them or something? Or they can lead us to shelter for the night?"

"Have you forgotten our last meeting?" Kyoko asked sharply, earning her the stares of everyone but Byakuya, "How can you want to confront them after that?"

"We may not have a choice," Byakuya grumbled, "They're walking down this way." He now fully took the pistol out his pocket, and gripped it tightly in both hands, and Makoto took his sword out, both hands gripping the handle so tightly that he was beginning to sweat. Makoto turned to look at Kyoko, and she looked almost pale… His worries were momentarily replaced for those of Kyoko.

"Kyoko…" He whispered, "Calm down, we outnumber them, we'll be fine!"

She gave a curt nod, her gun in her hand, though her face didn't pale any less, and Makoto had to wonder if she had a fear of strangers now, due to what happened yesterday. He felt a stab of guilt yet again, but he turned his attention back to Byakuya, who suddenly stepped out from around the corner, his gun held high.

"Stop right there." He demanded in a loud and clear voice.

"Oh shit! He has a gun!" The boy cried. He must have been no older than thirteen, and like them his clothes were ragged, his hair was a complete mess, and he had cuts all over him, "We don't want to fight ok?"

The woman on the other hand looked to be a lot older, at least in her forties, and she showed no fear as she placed her hand on her companion's shoulder and locked eyes with Byakuya, "What is it you want from us?" She asked. Her eyes were a dull blue, and her hair was cut short, just above her ears.

"How many of you are there?" Byakuya asked, "I refuse to acknowledge that it's just the two of you!"

"It's just us," The woman replied, "There were three of us, but…" She looked to the side, pain evident in her eyes. "My son and I were just trying to escape…"

Son? Her reaction to the third person was sadness, and Makoto connected the dots – his eyes widened, and he looked to the ground as he still hid from view of the woman and child, allowing Byakuya to do all of the talking. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and saw Yasuhiro give him a nod. Makoto smiled at the support, and returned the nod.

"Escape what?" Byakuya asked, venom still in his voice, and his gun refused to be lowered. "The monsters you mean?"

She nodded, "We were traveling here to try and find food and shelter, but we were attacked by those monsters when we went into a house. My husband died defending us, and we ran out before we could get hurt ourselves…" Her eyes looked down towards her son quickly, but then looked back up to Byakuya.

Unfortunately for her, Byakuya noticed her look, and he looked towards her son yet again. He did another glance ovver, and noticed blood seeping from the child's ankle. "Your son was bit." He stated, the woman's face contorting in pain at the mere words.

The boy gritted his teeth, and looked down to the ground, "N – No I wasn't… I'll be fine…"

Byakuya let out a sigh, but still held the gun up, "You realize he'll turn, right?"

The child tried protesting, but the mother covered his mouth, and shook her head, "No, he won't. I'm sure of it." A sort of twisted smile crossed her face, and Byakuya grimaced, realizing that after losing her husband, and soon losing her son was having its toll on her mental health.

Both of them were in pure denial over what was happening, and Byakuya could no longer feel any true malice towards them. He knew that if he were bit, he'd be in denial over it as well, though he'd at least hope he'd have enough dignity to let his friends shoot him regardless. Letting out a sigh, he asked softly, "Do you want… Do you want me to shoot you?" He asked.

Aoi's eyes widened, amazed that Byakuya would make an offer like that, and even Makoto's mouth dropped open. Feeling that any danger they posed was non-existent, Byakuya motioned for his team to come out of cover. The woman's eyes widened at their group, and her son gripped her tightly, fearfully looking at them all.

"You guys go ahead," Byakuya stated, "I'll catch up."

"Wh - What are you going to do?" Toko asked, her eyes looking over to the family they ran across, "You're not really going to…"

"Toko. Leave." He stated, his voice firm, "Kyoko, I trust you know where to go?"

Kyoko's eyes still lingered on the family, her mistrustfulness was apparent, but soon she nodded, "Yes." She nodded, giving a simple answer. With that, she started to move onward. At first, Makoto didn't know what to do, but one more look from Byakuya, and he felt the strength to keep going. Toko was the only one who lingered a little longer, looking worriedly at Byakuya.

"Go… Toko." He mumbled.

"I – I'll wait here." She stated firmly.

A long silence ensued with Byakuya glaring at her, but finally he nodded, "Fine… If you wish to stay, so be it."

The family they ran into looked at them fearfully, though they were more focused on the gun. "Just let us go!" The child cried, though that led into a coughing fit, where he even coughed up a little blood.

Byakuya's face softened ever so slightly, and he spoke, "In a few hours, your son will be dead. That's the reality of this situation. I told my group – my friends – that if I was ever in that position, I wanted them to take me out. So again, I offer you the same deal. I'll put you out of your misery… It'll be instant, and you won't feel a thing."

"NO!" The woman shouted, "I won't allow you to harm my child! How DARE you even say something like that!" She looked ready to pounce when suddenly her child's hand tugged on her ragged shirt.

"Mom…" He mumbled, tears beginning to fall from his eyes, "I – I don't want to become one of them…"

"You won't," She assured him, "You really won't."

Up ahead, Kyoko stopped leading the group after they walked a few blocks, and they waited. She again leaned on a wall with her arms crossed, and Makoto slid down into a sitting position beside her. Yasuhiro looked conflicted, while Aoi looked around, "Hey… Where's Toko?" She asked.

"Eh?" Yasuhiro mumbled, "She's not here?"

Makoto's eyes widened, "Wait, did she stay with –"

_BOOM_

They all stopped, looking in the direction the noise came from. Kyoko's emotion didn't change, but everyone else looked to the ground… Aoi was just surprised that Byakuya could show any compassion at all, and she was actually kind of glad that he had the strength to go through with that. She didn't know if she would be able to kill a child, even if he was infected…

_BOOM_

"A second shot?" Makoto asked, "Why was there a second one?"

"Should we go investigate it?" Yasuhiro asked, looking concerned.

"No, Byakuya can explain the situation once he gets here." Kyoko replied, "Just wait, we're not too far."

Aoi looked around nervously however, "Do you hear that? The zombies heard the gunshots…" As she said, there was a very loud moaning, and they could see several of the zombies starting walking down the street towards them.

"Makoto, Hiro, Aoi, hold them off long enough for Byakuya and Toko to get back here!" Kyoko ordered, "Be careful! Aoi, make sure not to lose any of your arrows!"

There were at least a dozen of the monsters coming towards them, and Makoto held his sword out, ready to fight. He and Yasuhiro just stood back as Aoi picked off a couple of them with arrows, and then when they were close enough, they got into a melee brawl, being very careful not to get bit. Makoto didn't have to worry about it too much, since his sword provided him with a bit of range, but Yasuhiro had to focus on getting jabs in and then quickly backing out.

Kyoko watched the situation unfold, hating the fact that she didn't have a weapon that was useful for a situation like this. Instead, she kept her eyes peeled just in case if they got flanked. Fortunately, five minutes barely passed when she saw Byakuya round a corner, and though she was initially happy to see that, her heart fell when she noticed that he was holding up a wounded Toko.

"What happened?" She asked, her eyes landing on Toko, "She wasn't bit was she?"

"No," He replied, "She was stabbed." Kyoko's eyes widened, and she looked at the girl again, and found the source of the blood on her dress to be from a stab wound in what looked to be her right shoulder. Her face paled considerably, and Byakuya couldn't help but grimace upon seeing that – he thought the wound was bad, but he hoped he was wrong.

"We _need_ to get her to lie down _now_." Kyoko replied, "A wound like that may potentially be very bad if we don't treat it! We need to examine it to make sure it didn't go into the socket – if it did, then even with a hospital around, it would be bad… With just us though…"She let it hang, and Byakuya bit back a curse. "We need medical supplies!"

"Maybe one of these houses nearby have something?" Byakuya asked, looking around, though he spotted the other three busy fighting the undead, "Shit… How many did the gunshots attract? In fact, where were they all hiding?! These streets were clear last time I remembered! They truly are like cockroaches!"

"Um… Kyoko!" Aoi cried, "They aren't stopping!" She run forward and made sure to collect as many arrows as she could, but some of the farther bodies she couldn't reach due to the horde, and she regretfully had to leave them behind.

Makoto stabbed one in the eye, and kicked it down to the ground, where it lay dead once more. He then turned his attention to Kyoko, and his eyes spotted Byakuya, but before he could truly smile, he noticed he was holding up Toko, "What happened?" He cried, rushing over, "Toko! Are ok?"

Amazingly, Toko was still conscious, but she didn't speak, she only nodded. She then tried to talk, "I'm… Fine…" She coughed, and some droplets of blood ran down her lips. That did absolutely _nothing_ to reassure Makoto, whose eyes widened.

"Toko!" he cried, "Shit, Byakuya! What did you do?!"

"I didn't do this!" He cried, "Why would I hurt her? She's proven to be far too useful to just dispose of like that!" He gritted his teeth, "That stupid woman attacked us when her son volunteered to die… She tried to stab me, but Toko tackled her down and ended up getting stabbed…"

"Then that second gunshot…?" Makoto muttered.

"Suffice to say, she has been dealt with." He replied, "That's not important now, we _need_ to help Toko!" Makoto didn't think he had ever seen Byakuya panic, so seeing him look at Toko with such a worried glance, and wanting to help her so bad was almost a surreal experience.

"Makoto, snap out of it." Kyoko replied, "Now's not the time to space out!" She looked towards Yasuhiro and Aoi, "Hina, Hiro, come on, we're getting out of here!"

Yasuhiro buried his survival knife into the skull of a zombie, and with a bit of a tug, he pulled it out, watching at the zombie fell to the ground and impeded those behind it. "Good." He muttered, and looked up, gasping for breath, "I don't think I coulda kept that up much longer!"

As Yasuhiro and Aoi ran towards the group, they noticed Toko, and before they could voice their concerns and questions, Kyoko spoke up, "I know you're concerned for Toko, we all are, but we have to get out of here first! Makoto, help Byakuya carry Toko!" Makoto wasted no time in going to Toko's other side and slung her arm over his shoulder. "Aoi, Yasuhiro, keep the monsters away from us, we're going to run through a few homes to try and lose them!"

Kyoko led the group, opening the fence leading to the nearest house and booking it inside. She held the door open for everyone, and then she slammed it shut, and made sure to lock it, figuring that it might impede the monster's progress a tad bit. They ran through the house, not looking at anything at all, and then left through the back. They did this several times, until they were sure that the undead horde lost track of them.

In the fifth house, Kyoko again locked the front door, and then looked around, "Byakuya, Makoto, find a bedroom _now_ and put Toko down. Yasuhiro, barricade the house and make sure that there's no entrances. Aoi, scout around and make sure we're alone in here. I'll go look for some medicine!" With their tasks assigned, everyone ran to do just that.

Makoto and Byakuya felt that the stairs would be too difficult to climb, and could potentially worsen Toko's condition, so they settled on using one of the downstairs bedrooms. The room was a disaster, but the bed, aside from a few cut open bits was relatively undamaged. They set her down, and she let out a loud groan, using her left arm to touch her shoulder.

"I'm going to go help Kyoko," Makoto replied, getting to his feet, "You stay here with Toko and call us if she gets any worse!"

If the situation was any less dire, Byakuya would have been pissed that Makoto was giving him orders. As it was though, his attention was focused solely on Toko – the girl who risked her life to save him. HIM! He was a Togami! He was excellence! He shouldn't have to have anyone save him… Yet he needed help, and she was there for him. He bit back his frustrated growls, and instead just sat there watching her, feeling useless for the first time since he escaped the Academy.

"Kyoko!" Makoto ran into the girl digging through the bathroom, and he noticed that right above the sink, there was a mirror that opened up, and inside were all sorts of pills. "What should I do?"

She looked up, and suddenly handed him a container of pills, "Those aren't as strong as pain killers, but given that we lack any access to that or morphine, it'll have to do." She replied, "Make sure she takes two of them." Makoto rushed out of the room right when she was done instructing him, and she was just glad that this house wasn't fully looted, or the idiots just didn't think to check the bathroom mirror. She grabbed some bandages she found, and soon she went to the room where Toko was.

"I gave her the medicine like you asked," Makoto replied.

"Good," Kyoko muttered, sitting down at Toko's side, "She was stabbed in the shoulder, which fortunately means that none of her vitals were damaged. However, we need to make sure that the tendon or shoulder joint is undamaged. The worst case scenario is that she loses the ability to lift her arm above her waist… I don't think this is life threatening, at the very least."

Makoto let out a sigh of relief, and even Byakuya looked pleased. "Then what should we do?" Byakuya asked.

"I'll need to remove her top so I can get a closer look at it," She noticed Makoto blush suddenly, "Makoto, Byakuya, if you both could leave and provide us with some privacy…"

"No,:" Toko shook her head, "I want Byakuya to stay."

"Stupid woman," He mumbled, "What do you expect me to do?"

"I – I'll feel better if you stay…" She admitted, her face heating up.

Byakuya should have snapped, should have just got up and left – he should have if he was the same person he was in the Academy. However, though it was ever so slightly, he changed, so he slowly nodded. "Very well… This happened because of me after all…"

Makoto left the room, presumably to go assist the other two in their jobs, and Kyoko got to work. She and Byakuya helped Toko take off her dress, and an ever so slightly red Byakuya got some of the torn sheets in the room to cover her up below the waist, since he called it 'un-womanly' to be exposed like that.

With the wound visible, Kyoko went about examining it. She reached for the pile of supplies she brought into the room, and got a cotton swab, "I would normally use my fingers to do this," She explained, "But I don't want to raise the risk of infection." She inspected the wound with the swab, and after a bit, she pulled it out.

"Well?" Byakuya asked impatiently, tapping his legs, "Is it bad?"

"No," Kyoko replied, "It could have been significantly worse. Her joint is fine, and her tendon, as far as I can tell, is undamaged. She'll have a difficult time using her shoulder though, but that shouldn't inhibit her ability to move her elbow. We should create a sling though, so it heals properly." She grabbed some bandages, and tied a knot in it, before wrapping it around her shoulder, and then slinging her arm through it.

Overall, it took her about a half hour to do all of that, and Kyoko leaned back and let out a sigh when she was finished. "Ok… She should be fine now." Kyoko mumbled, "Though we should avoid traveling for the rest of the day and just let her rest."

"Very well." Byakuya replied, "I'll stay here for a little longer, I'm sure the rest of those fools want to know how she's doing, so I'll leave that to you."

Kyoko nodded, and stepped out into the hall, where – as Byakuya expected – everyone else was waiting impatiently, sitting on the floor leaning against the wall. Upon seeing Kyoko walk out, Aoi shot to her feet and asked, "Is she alright?"

Kyoko nodded, "Yes. She'll be fine. I cleaned the wound to the best of my ability, and bandaged it too." She stood aside, "You're free to go talk to her if you like. Since this happened though, we'll have to cut short our travel time today."

"That's fine!" Yasuhiro exclaimed, "As long as Toko is alright, I don't really care what we do!" He let out a laugh, relief clearly etched on his face, "Oh thank god…"

Kyoko watched as both Aoi and Yasuhiro both went into the room, though Makoto stayed out there and watched her. "What is it?" She asked, feeling a little self-conscious as he just stared at her.

He blinked one, then twice, and then he shook his head, a blush forming, "Oh! Ah! Well, I was just thinking …" He averted his eyes finally, and scratched his cheek, "You know… You're pretty amazing…"

Now it was Kyoko's turn to blush, and she looked away as well, "It's just what I've learned when I was younger. There's nothing to it."

He chuckled, "Maybe, but you're really good at it regardless." He looked towards the door, "I'm going to go check on her real quick, if that's all right with you."

"By all means, please do so." Kyoko replied, and she watched him go into the room. With everyone gone, she let out a sigh, and leaned against the wall, closing her eyes and sliding down. She was so worried that it could have been worse, and to have her fears unfounded was such a huge relief. She was glad that Toko didn't die… She was part of their odd little family, and losing her – even though they didn't really talk much – would have been awful.

While the rest were distracted, Kyoko went out and explored the house a bit more, making sure it was secure. She was aware that Aoi did this earlier, but she wouldn't put it pass the girl to do a poor job, due to the distress of one of their companions being injured. Once she looked around and was satisfied with the security of the place, she went back to the room where Toko was.

A few hours passed, and Toko opened her eyes groggily, and she sat up slightly, only to feel a sharp pain on her shoulder. She looked down to the left, and blinked a few times, wondering why she was in a sling, and then the second thing she noticed was that she wasn't wearing her glasses. She was about to start panicking, but then she heard a soft cough come from beside her, and she looked over to see Byakuya sitting beside her bed.

"It appears that you're awake," He stated, "I figured you would have slept through the night."

She looked pass him briefly out the window, and saw that the sun was just starting to set, creating an orange hue that shone through the torn drapes of the windows, splattering the wall with its color. She looked back to him and softly asked, "What happened?"

"You don't recall?" He asked questioningly, "You were lucid when Kyoko was treating you though." She watch his facial feature crease with worry, "Perhaps I should go get her again."

"No," She shook her head, "Stay… My head just feels fuzzy." She tried to think – and then it all came back to her. "Oh… That woman stabbed me." She muttered softly, "That's why my shoulder hurts."

"Ah, good, you remember." He sighed, straightening back up and adjusting his glasses, trying to appear as if he wasn't too worried. "Good. Truthfully, I was afraid your other personality would awaken instead. I wasn't looking forward to explaining what happened to you to her."

Toko grimaced at the mention of her alternate self, but forced herself to calm down as she looked over to him, "Why are you in here?" It may have been because she was still drowsy, or maybe she felt a bit embolden by his continued presence, but she felt she could ask that without him retaliating as he usually did.

"You saved me," He mumbled, "She would have killed me if you didn't stay behind."

She nodded, remembering the scene perfectly well, "Yeah… I remember. You shot her son, and then she went ballistic…" A large frown crossed her face, and she closed her eyes, pressing back tears at the memory, "Why did you do that? You killed the child without any warning whatsoever…"

He blinked in surprise, wondering if doing that had actually damaged his image in her eyes. He leaned back in the chair he was sitting in, and closed his eyes, recalling the memory, "That child was doomed to die, and his mother refused to accept that. If I let them go, that kid would have turned, killing his mother, and then wandered around as one of the undead we keep fighting."

"Is that really justifiable?" She questioned, staring at the ceiling, "If I were in that mother's position… I don't know if I would have accepted it either. Her husband died, and then her son was doomed to die… In that position, I think I would have acted just the same."

"You would have let your son meet that cruel fate, just because you couldn't accept it?" He asked, his face contorting in anger, "If that's the case, why did you save me? You seem to think that I was not justified, so why not just let me die?"

She glanced over at him, "I couldn't do that," She mumbled, "I love you… Why would I want you to die?"

He scoffed at that, "Love? How in the world can you possibly love me? I've done nothing but show disdain towards you! I haven't treated you any kinder than any of the rest – I never cared about your presence, and I always found you to be a nuisance."

"Yeah…" She mumbled, "I know…"

"Then why?" He asked, "Why did you save me despite all of that?"

"For the same reason that woman tried to kill you. You're all I have left in my life… I like the rest too, but you mean the most to me. If you died, then I might as well die too." She explained, giving him a small smile at the end.

"You assisted me for such a misguided reason?" He asked, looking at her incredulously, "Because I'm all you have left?"

"You, Kyoko, and all the rest are like a family too me." She explained, "If any of you died, I don't know how I would react, but I think it would be similar to that woman… I think I would be willing to let my other self out to kill, if that happened."

"We're family…" He muttered slowly. He did notice that he was slowly growing fonder of the idiots he traveled with, but he certainly wouldn't call them family! Though… If he really thought on it… "I think I might understand what you mean," He finally said at last, "We're the only ones you can rely on now, given that the world is like this. That's what you mean, isn't it."

She nodded, "Yes… Though…" she yawned, interrupting herself.

"You ought to rest," He stated, "I just wanted to know why you saved me, is all." He stood up, and looked around the room, specifically at the windows. "If any danger occurs at all, just call for us. We'll be nearby." He then pointed to the side of her bed, where her dress, multiple scissors, and backpack were stored, "I suggest you eat while you're awake, because we're leaving early tomorrow to make up for time lost today."

As Byakuya walked out of the room, Toko couldn't help but smile – he _did_ care about her, though he tried to hide it. "I really do love you, you know…" She whispered quietly. She slowly sat up, and did as Byakuya asked, eating her food, getting plenty of water to drink, and then laying back down on her bed to sleep.

Tomorrow they would resume their journey towards the coastal town, where they would hopefully be saved.


	6. Emotion

Chapter Six

Emotion

Makoto let out a gasp of air as his eyes quickly opened – seconds after that his hands felt around quickly, his heartbeat going fast as he tried to find his sword. His hand suddenly touched the cold sheath, and he quickly pulled it over, wrapping his hand around the grip of the blade, breathing heavily as his eyes scanned the room. After blinking more of the sleep out of his eyes, he realized that he wasn't in any danger, and he left out a relieved sigh, setting his sword down.

He was in the living room of a house close to where he used to live. All the entrances were barricaded, and he was safe for the moment. He was on the floor sleeping on a mat, with Yasuhiro still sound asleep beside him on a mat of his own. He looked around the room, and saw Aoi sleeping on a couch, while Kyoko was sound asleep on an old reading chair. He knew Toko was safe in her own room, and the only one unaccounted for was Byakuya.

He shakily lifted himself up, his nightmare replaying over in his mind. Though it was fading quickly, he still remembered as he was running from the undead, and then at the end he was surrounded, holding his trusty sword as they slowly advanced towards him, ready to eat him alive…

"It was just a dream…" He mumbled, forcing himself back to reality. Instead, he looked back at Kyoko, and couldn't help but smile as he saw how peaceful her sleeping face was. Gone was her façade or the frowns that she typically adorn, instead, she just looked serene, an expression that outside of sleep, he feared none of them would be able to make anymore. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and he blushed red, quickly turning away before she noticed that he was staring at her.

Kyoko looked out the window of the room they were sleeping in, and saw a few rays of sunlight coming in, so she slowly stood up from the chair, her back a tad sore due to sleeping upright the entire night. She rubbed her eyes, and looked back towards Makoto, "Good morning," She greeted, walking over to her backpack and pulling out the rations, though a frown immediately crossed her face as she did so.

"What's wrong?" Makoto asked, walking over and kneeling down by her side, "Don't like the food?" He joked, trying to ease the mood.

"We're running low on food," She replied, opening up her bag so he could see, "We have perhaps three days of food left before we're out."

Makoto's face turned a bit pale, "Oh… That's not good."

"No, it's not." She quietly agreed, "We haven't been finding much food lately either, so we might have to start simply eating just once a day to conserve what we have."

"Ah, should I hold off on eating then until you talk to Byakuya about that?" He asked, watching her zip her bag back up.

"That may be for the best," She nodded, looking around the room, "Do you know where Byakuya is exactly?"

"No," Makoto shook his head, "I know he was with Toko last night, but I saw him leave the room." He frowned, "He might have gone back in maybe, I don't know."

"I'll go investigate," Kyoko replied looking thoughtfully down the hall, "I need to make sure her wound isn't any worse. Though I have a feeling that she'll be in a lot of pain today. With that wound, she won't be nearly as effective as she was before."

"As long as we avoid the zombies, that shouldn't be a problem," Makoto waved off her concern easily, "If you treated her, I'm sure she'll recover in no time."

Kyoko smiled slightly at that, glad that Makoto trusted her abilities so much, and she gave a slight nod, "Then I'll go check on her to make sure she'll recover in that 'no time'." She stood up, and went down the hall where Toko was currently resting, and she opened the door to her room, letting out a soft sigh of relief when she spotted Byakuya asleep in the chair beside the girl's bed, his arms crossed.

Toko was already up, and she glanced away from Byakuya over to Kyoko, her glasses back on her face and she gave a short wave, "Hello."

"Ah, you're awake, good." Kyoko said, walking into the room and sitting beside the girl's bed, doing her best not to disturb Byakuya, "How badly does your shoulder hurt?"

"It doesn't feel too bad," Toko answered, "It feels really sore though, and if I move around too much it's pretty painful."

Kyoko nodded along to what Toko was saying, "Can you sit up for a moment please? I'm going to change the dressing on your bandage." Toko did as she was asked, and Kyoko went to work, removing the bandages and then putting fresh cleaner ones on. "Have you taken the pills Makoto brought yesterday?"

"Yeah, but I don't think they'll help very much." Toko replied, shaking the bottle of pills.

"Even if it's only a little bit it helps," Kyoko muttered, pressing her gloved fingers against the wound, "Does this hurt?"

Toko winced slightly at the contact, and nodded, "When you press there it's a little painful," She admitted, "I – Is that bad?"

"Not necessarily," Kyoko mumbled, her eyes intently on the shoulder, "But you won't be doing much with that arm for a few months at the very least," She finally leaned back, "You can lay down again if you'd like."

"When are we leaving?" Toko asked, doing as Kyoko suggested and she laid her head back down on the pillow.

"I don't know quite yet, but I need to talk to Byakuya about some things." She eyed the boy in the chair, "Was he here all night?"

"I don't know," Toko mumbled, "He left when I went to sleep, but when I woke up again he was in here…" She blushed, and she immediately felt threatened, "Y – You not taking him are you? Y – You don't deserve him!"

Kyoko gave her a long stare, which made Toko a little uncomfortable, and finally she sighed. "I have no intentions of 'taking' him in the sense you mean. Do you always have this little self-esteem?" She questioned, sounding genuinely curious. "I've noticed that you always seem to think the worst of people and what they're thinking."

Toko looked at Kyoko in surprise – that wasn't the typical reaction she got. Most people would act confused by her outburst, or get angry with her. Kyoko was neither of those, and she was just waiting patiently for an answer. "U – Um…" Toko blushed, feeling a bit foolish for lashing out at the girl who just helped her, "I – I'm sorry…" She muttered after a few silent seconds.

"You should know that everyone here considers you a friend," She saw the disbelief in Toko's eyes, so she elaborated, "I think a common word for our group is 'family'." She smiled briefly, "Everyone here relies on one another, so you shouldn't think we're thinking ill about you at all."

Toko gritted her teeth and looked at the blanket covering her, and she again felt the need to lash out, but she held it in check. Instead, she ground out, "T – This is how I – I've always been…"

"I wonder why…" Kyoko mumbled, "What happened to you to give you almost no self-confidence?" She saw Toko's cheeks burning red again in anger, and she shook her head, "You're doing it again. I'm not saying it to be rude."

"H – How am I supposed to interpret it then? Telling me t – that I lack self-confidence to my face? That's very rude!" Toko exclaimed, glaring at Kyoko, "You don't think so?"

"I suppose it is," Kyoko admitted, "But you don't seem to acknowledge it at all."

"W – Why would I want to?" Toko asked, "I – I don't lack self-confidence at all!"

Again Kyoko gave her a long stare, and simply stayed silent and looked away from Toko. Honestly, that was worse than anything else she could have done. At least Toko could continue to argue with her if she said something, but silence… She couldn't do much against that. Her face burned red, and she again felt the need to lash out at her – she was _ignoring _her now! She was about to open her mouth, when suddenly Kyoko's stare looked at her again.

"I – I was about to do it again?" She guessed, and Kyoko nodded.

"At least you seem to understand somewhat." Kyoko replied, "You should try to control your impulses." Kyoko paused, and suddenly looked at her thoughtfully, "Your lack of self-confidence, does it possibly have to do with your split personality?"

Toko's eyes widened, and she looked away, "W – Why would you think that?"

Kyoko nodded, "Yes, I suppose that would explain it. I wonder, can you pin point exactly when your other personality appeared?"

"I – I don't want to talk about it!" She shook her head, and Kyoko noticed that the girl started shaking – a bad memory perhaps? Well, to create something like Genocide Jack, something horrible must have happened to her at some point.

"Very well, we don't need to discuss it." Kyoko allowed her to get off the hook, not wanting to distress the girl anymore.

"G – Good…" Toko sighed, and Kyoko watched her relax entirely, "T – Then can you go?"

"Like I said, I need to talk to Byakuya." Kyoko pointed back at the person in question, and Toko again felt the need to lash out.

She was about to give in, but she noticed an almost… expectant look on Kyoko's face. So with a bit of willpower, she swallowed down her outburst, and instead decided to make a deal. "G – Give him a little longer, ok? O – Once he wakes up, I – I'll tell him you came to talk with him."

Kyoko nodded, "Very well. I'll give him another hour, but if he's not up by then, then I'll have to wake him up. I hope you understand." Toko nodded stiffly, and Kyoko turned to leave the room, "Then I'll take my leave."

Toko watched the girl leave with a sneer on her face, but then the expression dropped, and she gripped the sheets with her hands making sure not to put any strain on her shoulder as she did so. "Why do I always do that...?" She mumbled to herself. She _knew_ that Kyoko was right, but she just couldn't help but yell at people, or assume the worst, it was just how she grew up. She didn't _want_ to lose these people as friends, she cared about them, but she feared that maybe she would make them go away due to how she acted.

She bit her bottom lip, doing her best to make sure she didn't cry, and she turned her eyes to Byakuya's sleeping form. Despite how he acted, he did care for her, and that thought alone was enough to cheer her up a little. She smiled at him, glad that he was so willing to help her… If only she didn't have her other personality… Maybe she would be able to have real friends if _she_ was gone.

And so an hour passed, at the end of which everyone gathered up once more. There were a few cautious glances aimed towards Toko and her injured shoulder, but it was in a sling, and everyone trusted Kyoko's word when she said that it was good to go.

"Before we leave there's something that needs to be addressed," Byakuya spoke up, looking at all of the people surrounding him, "We're running very low on food, so we're going to enforce a rule to eat only once a day. Restrain yourself on the water as well until we come to a stream to refill out water bottles. Any questions?" The group was silent, and he nodded his head, "Good."

And so they left the house, back on the road for their destination, with the hope inside for it to be an evacuation zone like the months old papers said it was. The plan was to leave the town they were currently in, and make their way back to the highway.

"Though we're going to have to resort to looting now," Kyoko muttered, not sounding too happy, "We'll be passing by a few convenience stores and shopping centers," She had the map open as they walked along the road. Aoi and Yasuhiro were guiding the group as Makoto, Byakuya, and Toko all looked at the map with Kyoko, "Like before, if you see any people, alert the group."

"Oh, the nearest store is just a few minutes away," Makoto noted as he pointed it out on the map.

"Excellent," Byakuya replied, "Then hopefully by the end of today we'll restock our food supply to an acceptable level."

It was odd that Byakuya of all people was trying to be optimistic, but no one wanted to dispute his claim. The outbreak happened a year ago, and apparently a few months ago society went down the drain, so no one wanted to point out that the chances of there being canned food there was close to none. Still, if Makoto was good at one thing, it was being hopeful, so he marched with them towards the store, trying to keep an optimistic outlook.

"The store's just ahead," Aoi called out, shooting an arrow at an undead in the way.

The store was a large grocery store, and if there was any chance of finding food, this was definitely their best shot. The store itself looked like it was in ruins – the electric sliding door had been torn down, and shopping carts were lying all over the scene, though Byakuya eyed one that was in fairly good condition with a keen eye, if there were enough supplies, then he could perhaps make use of it. The parking lot was mostly empty except for a few vehicles.

"Hey," Yasuhiro called out, "Shouldn't we check these cars out? Maybe some of them have gas!"

"Even if they have gas, the chances of them being operational are close to zero," Byakuya replied, "Though… Hm…"

"It wouldn't hurt, would it?" Makoto asked, "There has to be a car dealership or a motor store around here. If we can't find a car that works, then maybe we can fix one of these wrecked ones!"

Byakuya paused, and considered the thought, "That's all well and good, but if we spend another day or two here and _don't_ get a car working, then we would have wasted our time."

"But with a car we could get to our destination within a day," Kyoko pointed out, "Surely it's worth investigating due to that benefit alone?"

Byakuya nodded, "That is true…" He thought a little longer, the group stopped to hear what he had to say, and he finally sighed, "Very well. Once we loot this place for food, we'll go to a car dealership to try and find a working vehicle."

Though it wasn't a sure fire thing, the group's morale went up just a tad bit with just the thought of getting a working car, and they entered the grocery store with more spirit than they otherwise would have. However, the inside of the store was even more wrecked than it appeared on the outside. Columns of shelves were knocked over all over the place, the smell of rotten meat was heavy in the air, and there were a lot of the undead just wandering around inside.

Makoto led the group inside, kneeling behind the checkout counter, noting that the cash register was on the ground, and it was completely destroyed, probably by a looter before the world went completely bad, back when money had value. He shook the thought away, and looked up over the counter to count the amount of zombies.

"Damn," He mumbled, "There's a _lot_ of them in here. We might be better off just leaving."

"No," Byakuya shook his head, and pointed to some of the zombies wandering around, "Notice some of them are carrying bags? I think it's safe to assume that they were like us, coming in here to get some supplies, and were overwhelmed by the amount in here."

"We've been killing them just to get by until now, if we start killing them for what they have on them, are we really any better?" Aoi questioned, sounding hesitant, "I think we should just leave."

"If we don't get food soon we will starve to death," Byakuya countered, glancing back at the girl, "If you _must_ justify it in your mind, use that justification. If we don't do this, there's a very real chance we will die."

Though she didn't look very happy about it, Aoi nodded her head, "I – I guess…" She mumbled, "It just doesn't feel right."

"I'm with you Hina," Yasuhiro gave her shoulder a pat, "But Byakuya's right. We need the food."

"With that settled," Kyoko spoke up, "Let's make a choke point at the front. That way we won't accidentally get surrounded, and we can control the flow a bit."

"Alright," Makoto agreed, "You guys go out, and I'll lure them to us."

"Very well," Kyoko nodded, and as the group was leaving to head outside, she paused, and then said, "Please be careful, Makoto."

He gave her a quick smile and a thumbs up, "I'll be fine."

Feeling slightly better herself, Kyoko exited the dimly lit building, and stood back, allowing the three with weapons to deal with the oncoming tide. Aoi got her arrows ready, and looked to Yasuhiro, "So how many of them do you think there were?"

"I'd say twenty or so," Yasuhiro replied, "Nothing the three of us can't handle."

Just as Aoi was about to ask another question they heard Makoto shouting, "Hey! Over here! Come on!" Then they heard him smashing something to the ground, before he rushed out of the building, "They're coming!" Unsheathing his sword, he turned back around to the destroyed sliding door, and waited for the oncoming horde – their moans were enough to let them know that they were getting closer.

As the first one peeked its head out, Aoi shot it with an arrow, causing it to collapse to the ground. The next one Makoto took care of, cutting it down at the door. Yasuhiro took care of the third one, and now with the three corpses blocking the entrance, the fourth zombie tripped over its kin, and Makoto was able to kill it with ease as it tried to climb over its dead comrades.

Though it took a few minutes, the choke point proved to be very effective, and in no time at all, the group was busy shifting through the dead bodies, grabbing the supplies off of the corpses that would suit their needs. The only one opting _not_ to do it was Aoi, who was standing off to the side looking a bit conflicted.

"Hina?" Makoto walked over to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Are you alright?"

If anything her frown deepened, and she looked at Makoto, "This doesn't feel right… They used to be people and we're just taking things off of their dead bodies. I understand killing them when we have to, but this feels wrong…"

"I know what you mean," Makoto admitted, glancing back at the corpses again, as their companions looked through pockets and the bags that the undead beings were carrying, "It does feel wrong…"

"But you're going to say that we have to, aren't you." She mumbled, her eyes downcast, "And I know we have to, Byakuya was right, but…" She sighed, "I'll get over it, just give me a minute."

Makoto shook his head, "We won't force you to do it, Hina," He said lightly, "You helped take them out, so the least Byakuya can do is make you not have to check the corpses, and if he makes an issue out of it, I'll try to talk him down, ok?"

Her lips curved upward a little bit and she gave a small nod, "Thank you Makoto."

"No problem." With that, he walked back over to the bodies, and went next to Kyoko, doing as she asked her. Thankfully, no one ever forced Aoi to help them with the gruesome task, and soon they had a small pile of their spoils.

Byakuya looked immensely pleased, "This is the first significant haul we've had ever since we got out of the Academy." He told them, "Some of these people were holding a lot of canned foods."

"So how much food did we get?" Makoto asked, kneeling next to the several bags on the ground.

"Assuming we still eat twice a day, w – we got about two or three extra days' worth of food." Toko announced, not looking quite as happy with the haul as Byakuya did.

"Wait, that's it?" Yasuhiro asked, his face falling, "But you made it sound like we hit the jackpot!"

"Given the size of our group," Kyoko replied, "This is about as good as we can ask for."

"Oh…" Yasuhiro looked around, and realized that while they were safer in a group, that also meant that their stockpiled food would run out a lot quicker. "I guess that makes sense… Still, at least we got something."

"Indeed." Byakuya spoke up, "Everyone grab a few cans and put them into your bags." After everyone did that, he stood up, and dusted off his worn pants before pulling out a map from his backpack – he noted his two remaining bombs, and made sure they wouldn't activate – and he opened the map up, "Now we ought to go shopping for a car, assuming we can find one."

Everyone crowded around him and started to look at the map, seeing if they could possibly find any car dealerships nearby, and like before, it was Makoto who found it first. "There!" He pointed, "It's just a few miles away!" He exclaimed, "We can get there well before night time!"

"Then let's not waste any more time." Kyoko replied, memorizing the directions in her head. She crossed her arms and waited for everyone else to get ready. Once Byakuya put the map back, she led the group, occasionally letting either Aoi or Makoto take out a stray zombie here or there.

Over the next hour they exited the residential district and entered a commercial district, and all sorts of stores and shops lined the streets. It was a very depressing sight however, since all of the stores were in disarray, a lot of them with smash windows and the goods that were prominently displayed in the windows knocked down and destroyed as well. It seemed that the outbreak brought out the worst in humanity.

Aoi suddenly stopped, and Makoto bumped into her, "Hey, Hina?" He asked, rubbing his nose that hit the back of her head, "What's the big deal?"

"There…" she mumbled, her eyes glued onto a specific shop. The rest of the group stopped, and they all looked at a rundown bakery, the sign was still up, though it was dirty and was partly torn, a donut was on prominent display.

"Oh yeah," Yasuhiro mumbled, "You did say something about wanting to go to a donut shop when you got out."

"Do you want to stop here for a little bit?" Makoto asked softly, and she just quickly nodded.

"We don't have time for this!" Byakuya started, but his protests fell on deaf ears as Aoi rushed inside the building, Makoto a half step behind her. He let out a growl, and crossed his arms, "How juvenile."

Inside the shop, Aoi looked around – there was the counter, where all the pastries and breads would be put on display, with the glass shattered and nothing remaining. There were a few seats all around the room, most of them knocked over and broken, but one small booth was undamaged, and she slowly her way over to it and sat down.

"Hina?" Makoto muttered, going over to sit on the opposite side of her, "Are you ok?" Makoto didn't expect tears to suddenly start falling down her face, and he jumped a little upon noticing. "Hina?" He repeated yet again.

She reached up and wiped her eyes, "I – I'm sorry…" She sniffed, "It's just… seeing this… It just made me realize that life is never going to go back to normal…" Her lips trembled, "I remember coming to places like this with my friends after school, and we'd just talk about nothing in particular." And despite her crying, she started to laugh, "I – Is it kind of funny that I'm sad that I – I might never get to taste a donut again?"

"No, it's not really that funny…" Makoto muttered, especially not when she was crying like this. He looked down at the counter, again that feeling of loss returning to him. It was just like the night when she was thinking about running away – should he hug her? Would that make her feel better?

Unfortunately, he never got to act on his thoughts, since she wiped her eyes, and tried to smile, "I'll be fine… Just give me a little bit…" She pleaded, and he nodded, just sitting there and keeping her company.

It was ten minutes later when the two left the store, Aoi walking out first, and Makoto behind her. Byakuya looked absolutely furious with the delay, but when Makoto looked at Kyoko, she gave a very slight nod, and he knew who he had to thank for not letting Byakuya barging in to force them out. He wasted absolutely no time in getting the group back on track, and he seemed to be walking even quicker to try and make up for lost time.

Makoto tried to avoid looking at any of the shops, because what Aoi said really did hit home… He could remember all the times he stopped at stores like these after middle school to hang out with his friends, or when he stopped at one of the food shops after shopping for a while with his mom… All things that he would never get to experience again. He held back his tears, though he could see that everyone else also seemed to be a bit out of it as they walked through, the only exceptions were Byakuya and Kyoko, who Makoto knew was hiding her true emotions behind her usual façade.

Not even an hour later they fortunately arrived at the car dealership, and their hearts dropped when they saw most of the vehicles were either destroyed, or looked like they had parts missing that none of them really knew how to replace.

"There has to be something here," Makoto muttered, his eyes looking over everything for a third time. The car beside looked like it was in good condition, but when he lifted the hood up, they saw that the engine was in pieces, "Maybe there's something inside the shop that can tell us how to fix these things?"

"You're asking us to learn how to repair a vehicle within a day?" Byakuya asked, looking at him sharply, "We simply don't have time to do that."

"Well what do you suggest?" Makoto asked, "Do you just want to leave here without even looking?"

"Hey," Yasuhiro spoke up, getting between the two of them, "We haven't looked everywhere yet. Let's try not to argue right now, okay?"

Byakuya rolled his eyes, "I'm not arguing, idiot." He crossed his arms and stalked off to the other side of the lot, where some other vehicles they had yet to examine were.

In the meantime, Aoi and Kyoko were walking side by side, examining all the vehicles in the lot, and like the rest, they weren't having much luck in finding anything worthwhile. "Why don't we go check the building to see if there's any paperwork on a new car or something." Aoi muttered, her hope getting lowered with each car she walked by.

"Unfortunately, I doubt that will bring up much," Kyoko replied.

"Why not?" Aoi asked, "Isn't it worth checking?"

"There two issues with it: first, it's assuming they weren't fully digital prior to the tragedy, and secondly, even if there _were_ any paperwork on it, this place seems to have been completely ransacked." She pointed her gloved hand at the nearest car, "It looks like someone took parts out of this one, for instance."

Aoi let out a soft sigh, "Why do you always have to dash my hopes like that?"

"I'm sorry," Kyoko murmured, averting her eyes, "It wasn't my intention to do that."

"I know." Aoi sighed, and her eyes spotted a garage, "Do ya suppose there's anything in there?"

"Maybe." Kyoko replied, "I doubt we'll find much out here, so we might as well check."

The two girls approached the garage of the car dealership, and upon approaching they heard the moans of the undead, causing both of them to duck down immediately, Aoi getting her bow and arrow ready to shoot. They snuck towards the garage, which fortunately had the shudder fully open, and upon looking inside, they gasped – there was a vehicle in there, and it looked like it wasn't in terrible condition. It was a pickup truck, and while the engine was on full display, from what they could see, it looked like it was in good condition.

"Don't go," Kyoko grabbed Aoi's shoulder just as she was about to run towards the car. She pointed towards the undead in the room near the knocked over tool bench, "There's quite a few of them… It wouldn't surprise me to learn that these people came here to try and fix their car and were caught in a fatal attack."

Aoi shuddered at the thought, but focused her mind regardless. There were only around six of them in the room, and she knew she could take them easily. From what she could see, there were two cars in the garage, the truck as mentioned before, and another one that was in horrid condition. The zombies were fortunately wandering around the wrecked car, so she took aim, and shot her arrow at the first zombie she could, hitting it right in the head.

The zombie tipped over, and slammed into the car right beside it, and suddenly the car started to screech loudly – the car alarm must have somehow activated due to the force of the zombie that hit it. "Shit!" Aoi cried, "I didn't know that would happen!"

"Just kill the rest!" Kyoko yelled, knowing that the car alarm would cover her voice. Fortunately, the zombies were all pushing and shoving themselves into the destroyed car, scratching it and attempting to bite it as if it were a person. It would have been fairly humorous, Aoi thought to herself, but she knew that the car alarm was going to attract the entire town at this rate, so she got to work at finishing off the others.

"What in the world did you do?!" Byakuya ran towards her just as she picked off the zombies, and Aoi pointed towards Kyoko, directing them to her so she could go collect her arrows quickly. Kyoko was currently looking at the engine of the car, and she noticed on major thing – the battery was missing.

"There's no time to explain!" Kyoko yelled, "In a few minutes this place is going to be covered with the undead! We need to find a battery NOW!"

Makoto and Yasuhiro arrived just seconds later, and they were filled in by Kyoko just as quickly. All at once, the six of them dashed around the car lot, looking for any vehicle that still had a battery left inside of it.

"Nothing here," Makoto called out to Yasuhiro, who was inside the car and pressing the buttons required to pop the hood. He slammed down the hood, and that was when he noticed the zombies starting to come. There were at least two dozen that he could count, and even more were coming out of the destroyed buildings and under cars that he didn't even realize were there. If they didn't find a battery soon, the road would be so crowded that the chances of escaping in a car, much less without one, would be very slim.

Byakuya meanwhile was looking in another car, and his eyes widened as he saw what they needed, "Toko! It's here!" He pointed it out, and then he cursed, "We don't have the tools necessary! Damn, they must be in the garage, come on!" He left the vehicle and ran to the garage, spotting the knocked over tool bench as soon as he entered. There he noticed Kyoko and Aoi were inspecting their potential car, and he couldn't help but ask, "Is it working properly?"

"I think so," Kyoko yelled over to him, since the car alarm was still very loud, "Like I said, it needs a new battery. Furthermore, we're replacing the oil right now, and it looks like the gas is low too."

Byakuya growled – there were too many issues, but the battery was the most pressing one. They could get gas later, and the girls should be able to handle the oil quick enough. The car alarm suddenly turned off, and he paused, the blissful silence he was expecting was interrupted by a low moaning.

"They're that close?" Aoi asked, her face paling considerably, "Hurry!"

Byakuya didn't even hear her as he and Toko rushed over to the tool bench and tried to find the proper tools. "We need a wrench!" he told Toko, who nodded, shifting through the tools on the ground with her good arm.

"H – Here!" She grabbed it and immediately handed it over to him, "Let's go!" She cried, and Byakuya was actually pleased with how serious she was, any semblance of the love-struck idiotic girl she usually acted like was gone, replaced with an actually competent girl in her place.

They ran back to the car, and with the wrench in hand, Byakuya started to get the nut off of the negative terminal. It would have gone a lot quicker if the moaning would stop distracting him.

"You got it, now the other one!" Toko cried, her voice quivering, and Byakuya was more than aware of why. The horde was coming closer, and he too started to shake slightly as adrenaline began to pump through his veins. He gritted his teeth, and got the nut off of the positive terminal, and he reached in and took the positive and negative cables off of the battery.

"Shit," He mumbled, "It's screwed in, we need a screwdriver!" He looked at Toko, "Toko! Go get me one, _NOW_!"

She was off before he could even finish his sentence, and he turned back to look at the engine. Unfortunately, he couldn't examine it much longer, since a zombie was coming near him. Figuring that the car alarm already made enough noise as it was, he found no reason not to use his gun, so he drew it out and aimed towards its head and pulled the trigger.

He watched the thing fall down, and noticed that there were even more of the monsters coming at him. Briefly he wondered if he should use one of his remaining bombs, but he decided against it. Again he aimed his gun, and fired two more shots, each bullet hitting right on its mark, killing another two zombies.

"Byakuya!" Toko's shout momentarily distracted him, and he looked over to see she had the screwdriver, "I've got it."

"Use it to get the battery out, I'll hold them off!" He shouted, "Do it now!" That knocked her out of her daze, and with her good hand, she began to unscrew the battery from the engine. She jumped each time Byakuya fired his gun though, and there was even a time when she nearly dropped the screwdriver, but soon she got it out. She tried to lift it with one hand, but it was no use.

"Byakuya!" She shouted, "I can't get it out!"

He let out a soft curse, and handed her the gun, "Hold them off!" He told her, and he went to the engine and with both hands he lifted the battery, though he looked mildly surprised at the weight of the damn thing.

Toko meanwhile pointed the gun at the nearest one, but her hand was shaking so much that when she fired, the bullet was far off its mark, and she missed completely. "B – Byakuya!" She cried, looking back to him.

"Forget it, come on!" He ran towards the garage, and Toko was not far behind. He then went to the pick-up truck, and placed the battery inside, silently praying in his head that the battery was compatible with the car. "This must work…" He mumbled under his breath, and he wasn't able to hide his sigh as it fit just fine. Wasting no time, he put the cables on it, and then with the wrench, he made sure they were both securely in place.

"Is it in properly?" Kyoko asked, just as Byakuya slammed the hood shut.

"I suppose we'll find out, won't we?" He asked. Before he went into the vehicle though, he turned around to shoot the zombies coming, his first shot again hitting one right in the head, though a loud _CLICK_ sounded as he tried to shoot again. "Shit." He mumbled, and he did the only thing he could think of, he threw the now useless gun at the oncoming zombies, hitting it in the head, knocking it down momentarily.

"Do any of you guys know how to drive?" Aoi asked, looking at the other three there, and as the silence went on, her face paled, "W – Well, there's a first time for everything?"

"I can do it!" Yasuhiro yelled, running into the garage with Makoto at his side, "Is it working now?"

"_You _can drive?" Byakuya asked, disbelief clearly on his face.

"Why would I lie about this?" Yasuhiro asked, and shook his head, "look, you just gotta trust me!" He pointed to the zombies coming, a few of which Makoto cut down since they were getting so close, "We don't have time!"

"Fine, drive! Kyoko, _please_ tell me it's working and we just didn't waste our time here!" Byakuya called out to her.

Kyoko was in the driver's seat now, and she reached to the ignition, wrapping her fingers around the key and slowly turned it. There wasn't a single sound at first, so she tried again, and suddenly the car started to hum, "It works!"

"Ok, move aside!" Yasuhiro jumped into the seat, forcing Kyoko aside. She didn't look too happy, but didn't say much, and made her way to the backseat. Toko also got in, getting into one of the back seats, while Byakuya jumped into the passenger seat. "Makoto! Hina!" Yasuhiro yelled, "Jump in the back!"

Aoi refrained from shooting her arrows, since she knew that she wouldn't be able to get them back if she did, so she quickly jumped into the back bed of the pickup truck, Makoto following right behind her. "GO!" Aoi shouted once they were all in, and Yasuhiro didn't waste a second, slamming his foot on the pedal. The car let out a loud screeching as it burst out of the garage, running over several of the undead immediately, though Aoi and Makoto stumbled in the back, "Drive a bit safer!"

"Um, yeah, that's not happening!" Yasuhiro cried, "It's gonna be a bit bumpy! Strap in your seat beats!" He slammed into another couple zombies, and then some more after that. Fortunately the car wasn't that small, and was able to withstand the hits, though it was not really able to build up much speed since it kept colliding with the undead on the road. "Come on, MOVE!" He spun the wheel, avoiding a group in front and went around them, building up a bit of speed now.

"I – I think we did it!" Makoto cried, a smile appearing on his face, "We actually did it!"

"Yeah!" Aoi smiled back at him, but the car suddenly bumped as it hit another zombie, and they both again fell flat on their butts. "Ow…" She mumbled, rubbing her behind.

The car drove down the road, and all six of them watched as the horde still chased them, but they were no match against the speed of their car, and they got smaller and smaller as the car went on. Makoto couldn't help but smile as he watched, and Aoi also looked thrilled. Inside the car, everyone was happy, though they were a lot more subdued about it. Byakuya couldn't help but have a smug grin on his face, Yasuhiro chuckled as he leaned back and drove with only one hand, Kyoko had on a light smile, and Toko was leaning back in her seat, relief completely evident on her face.

With the danger behind, Byakuya reached into his bag and looked at the map, and let out a pleased hum, "Well, with the car now in our possession, we can go much farther. If we just drive along the back roads, we'll reach our destination within I'd guess… Maybe six to eight hours."

"No can do," Yasuhiro replied, pointing at the gas gauge, "This baby has enough juice to take us a little bit out, but unless if we find some gas soon, we aren't going that far."

"We'll just have to make sure we stop somewhere with a lot of cars around," Kyoko replied, "Then we can siphon the gas and head out the next morning."

"I suppose that's all we can really do," Byakuya grumbled, though he wasn't too upset, since they did have a working car at least.

"A – A little rest might be good," Toko muttered, "My s – shoulder is killing me…"

Kyoko frowned, looking over at the girl, "Hopefully the next place we visit will have some fresh bandages to replace the ones you have. You haven't been moving that arm too much have you?"

"N – Not a whole lot," Toko mumbled, "I'll b – be fine for a little while."

"Still," Kyoko replied, "You'll need a lot of rest tonight too, since we have a car, we can take sleeping a little longer into consideration." She saw Byakuya stiffen at that, "Right, Byakuya?" She asked, pushing him into the spotlight.

He sighed, and looked back at Toko. He wanted to reject it, but she really did look worn out, and after everything she did for him, he bit back his objection, and nodded, "Fine. I suppose an extra hour or two won't hurt us."

"Hey, Hiro," Toko looked at him now, trying to get her blushing under control over Byakuya's concern for her, "I was wondering, how in the w – world does an I – idiot like you know how to drive a car?" She was smacked lightly on her arm by Kyoko, and she stuttered out, "U – Uhm… Sorry, I – I didn't mean to call y – you an idiot…"

Yasuhiro looked at her through the rearview mirror and grinned, "Well, I guess I haven't really driven a real car."

"What." Byakuya, Kyoko, and Toko all asked at the same time, disbelief in all of their gazes.

"T – Then you decided to drive the car and risk our lives?!" Byakuya yelled, and Kyoko could have sworn she saw a vein popping on his forehead.

"No way man, I drove a remote control car when I was a kid, that's basically the same thing, right?"

Utter silence met him.

"W – What?" He asked, "Come on, that was a joke guys, sheesh…"

About an hour later the car slowed down as it pulled into a parking lot of another hotel, where there were fortunately several cars still around. While they could siphon now, with the darkness coming, they decided to wait until morning, and they did their usual ritual as they entered the hotel – they barricaded the entrances, they blocked off the stairs to the second floor, and everyone picked their own rooms.

Makoto sat on the bed in his own room, glad to see that relative to the other hotels they've stayed at over their journey, this one was actually in pretty good condition. Perhaps it was due to the distance from the city, but the bed in his room was hardly torn at all. There were a few zombies around that they had to kill, but otherwise, Makoto wouldn't have minded too much if they stayed there a little longer than usual.

The sun was still out though, and he wasn't all that tired, not yet. Every time he closed his eyes, all he saw were the monsters, so he finally sat up and went to the door, figuring that maybe a little walk would help clear his head.

He walked through the halls for a little bit, and returned to the entry of the hotel, looking outside the most undamaged windows. They had a few cracks here and there, but none of them were smashed open. His attention was briefly on the few zombies in the parking lot before his attention turn to Kyoko, who was leaning against the window sill and looking off into the distance.

"Kyoko?" He muttered, going closer to her. She jumped and looked towards his direction, but she immediately calmed down upon seeing who it was.

"Makoto." She stated, "Next time please try not to sneak up on me."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," He apologized, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

She looked back towards the window yet again, "Good."

He walked closer, his eyes trying to see what she was looking at. After a few seconds of trying, he finally decided to give up on his futile search and ask her, "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing, really." She replied, "I'm just thinking."

"Oh… What are you thinking about?"

"A lot of things… Whether we'll be saved at the evacuation zone, about escaping the Academy, and… other things." She blushed lightly, and she looked at him briefly, though he didn't catch it.

"Ah, I see…" He mumbled, "Are you worried that we won't be rescued or something?"

"Things haven't necessarily been working out for us that often," Kyoko answered, "And the outbreak happened months ago. Honestly, I don't think we'll find anything worthwhile there."

Makoto's frown deepened, "You have to have hope at least."

"That's your job," A bitter smile appeared on her face, "I don't really think I'm capable of it anymore."

"What?" He gasped, "Sure you are! We _all_ are!"

"You might not notice it," She muttered, "But Byakuya has all of his hopes on this evacuation center. He _knows_ the chances are slim that there'll be anything worthwhile there, but he's putting everything he's got into getting there."

"That's… good, isn't it?" He asked, "At least he has something driving him forward!"

"From that point of view, yes, it is good." She agreed, "But look at it in this way: when we get there and there's nothing there, his hope will shatter, and he'll be left in despair."

"But… This is Byakuya we're talking about, he wouldn't do that…" Makoto disagreed, shaking his head, "That wouldn't happen!"

"On the contrary, it will." She looked away from the window to him, "Think of it like this, Makoto. The world has ended, we've been out here long enough to deduce that, correct? We've seen people willing to k – kill you." She stuttered and Makoto caught her gaze narrowing, "We've seen people willing to rape others… We've seen the desperate hope from a doomed family, and all the corpses we've seen, and the locations we've been to, all of them are destroyed! We see stories every time we stay at a hotel like this one: last stands, starvation, suicides - whether with a gun or by any other means…"

"How does that all tie back to Byakuya?" He asked.

"Simply put, Byakuya has hope that maybe he can return to some sort of normality, I think all of us do, but his wish for it is far stronger than ours. Think about it, he's the Ultimate Affluent Progeny – he's a Togami, one of the most influential families in the world. He was worth more money than you and I could expect to see – let alone cumulatively earn in a life time."

"So what exactly are you saying?"

"Byakuya will self-destruct soon." She replied evenly, "If there's nothing in the coastal town, no evacuation zone or any signs of any sort of nearby civilization, he will simply give up."

"But… We can't give up…" Makoto mumbled, "A – And how do you know this is true?"

"Isn't it the case for all of us?" Kyoko asked him instead, "What do you plan to do _if_ we don't find any hope there? Our supplies are limited, and we can't keep relying on canned foods forever. Would you give into despair in that sort of situation?"

"I…" He wanted so badly to say no, that he would move on, but over the past few days, his willpower had slowly been fading. "Th – There has to be someone there…" He stated instead, "I've got to believe in that."

She looked incredibly disappointed, "And so you too will be just like Byakuya." She sighed, "I predict that within a week, if we don't find an evacuation zone, we'll all be dead, either due to despair, and if not that, then we'll die a slow death of starvation."

"Kyoko…" He mumbled, "W – Why are you saying this?"

"Because I'm the only one who is thinking about these things!" She stated, her voice cracking, taking on a hard edge, "After _everything_ that has happened to us so far, after seeing all those dead people, what makes you think that we'll be the lucky ones?"

He grimaced, looking down, "What have you been thinking?"

"I – I hoped that you would feel differently than Byakuya, that maybe you had a plan… But no… None of us do. We're all just lost, none of us are able to make use of our skills anymore… What's the point of being a detective, the child of a multi-national corporation, or an author if life is like this now? I – I've been forced to m – murder people… Makoto… I don't know if I can keep this up…"

For the first time Makoto could ever recall, he watched in near horror as Kyoko began to just break down, tears pouring from her eyes as she kneeled to the ground hiding her eyes from view. "K – Kyoko…" He stuttered.

Now that he thought about it, slowly he realized that this entire time, Kyoko had been hiding _everything_ behind her façade… He felt a pang of hurt that she wasn't willing to talk to anyone about it, but at the same time, he realized why… She was thinking of the cold hard reality, something that he nor the others were ready to face yet. She was thinking of the likely future, while the rest of them were living in a fantasy, hoping that once they were rescued, they wouldn't have to worry about their own survival anymore.

He felt at a loss for words as he just watched her crying, and he so wished she would have kept up yelling at him. Anything was better than watching the one he relied on the most become like this. She was so close to despair, so close to just giving up, and he realized how tempting of an option it was. Why bother continuing on this journey if the inevitable result was starvation or a bullet in the head?

"Don't give up hope, Kyoko." He wondered who was talking, when he realized that it came from his own lips.

She stilled, but didn't look up.

"I know it's easy to give up right now," He muttered, "But… but… We have to keep going. If we don't find anything in the evacuation zone, then… Then we'll just have to try living without help!"

She looked up, tears still in her eyes, but she just watched him passively. Finally her lips moved, and a small voice asked, "H – How do you intend to do that?"

"It's a coastal town, right? Then we'll find a boat and some fishing poles, and live on the ocean for a while!" As he was talking, even he was starting to feel better by his words, "Hell, even if we can just find fishing poles! That will help a _lot_ with our food problem!"

"That… is one possibility." She acknowledged, her voice gaining a bit more strength.

"We have to take the possibility of not finding a boat into account though, right?" He replied, thinking of the future, just like she would, "Or the possibility of not finding any fishing poles either. If that's the case, then we can just make our own – a stick, a string, and a hook, all of those are really easy to find!"

She nodded, "What about the winter? What will we do then? We'll need warm clothes and shelter."

"Not a problem." He declared, "There's plenty of clothing all over the place, we'll just go to a store and take some from it, even if they're looted, there's no way everything is taken, right?" He then turned a bit pale, "A – And if we have to, some of the zombies will surely be clothed. As for shelter, there's bound to be more hotels or homes we can stay in, some of them even must have fire places. It might be difficult, but we can use furniture and other things to keep it going." He explained.

"We could do that." She smiled slightly, "It seemed you only needed a little push after all…" She let out a sigh, "When you said that you didn't have any idea what to do, I feared the worse, but you've pulled through as our hope – my hope."

He blushed, just what in the world did she mean by _that? _Still, he was glad her mood was slowly improving. He knelt down at her level, and looked her directly in the eyes, "Kyoko, I know you like to hide everything, but if you're ever feeling like this again, please talk to me, ok?"

She looked ashamed, and a faint red hue rose on her cheeks, but she nodded, "Yes… I suppose it was foolish of me to hold it all in."

He then sighed, "And… Are you ok about what you did the other day – to save me and Hina?" She saw Kyoko face contort into a pained look, and he frowned, "I suppose that's a no then?"

She wished she was prepared for that question so she could have just hidden it behind her emotionless wall, but for some reason it caught her off guard, and her full emotions were on display. "It… It disturbs me…" She whispered.

"Why?" He asked, reaching over to her, both of them still kneeling.

"I… I wasn't aware that I was capable of something like that…" She mumbled, her lips thinning, and she blinked a few times to try and hide her tears, "Something just came over me, and before I knew it… I murdered them… Their deaths are on my hand." She looked at him fearfully, "I – If you weren't there, that one man would have been left to suffer because of me…"

She was shaking, so Makoto pushed back his hesitations, and leaned forward, wrapping his arms around her, "It's ok Kyoko… What they were doing was bad – they killed so many others, they even admitted to it."

"B – But…" She gasped, tears again streaming from her eyes, "Does that really justify what I did? I killed them in cold blood…" She took in a deep shaky breath, and a sob escaped her lips, "I never wanted to kill people, Makoto…"

He held her tight, hiss own eyes getting cloudy, "I'm so sorry," He mumbled, trying not to let his own emotions overflow. If only he had listened to her…

"You were such an idiot Makoto!" She gasped, her raw emotion now fully out, "We were watching the whole time! We wouldn't have let them touch Hina! You shouldn't have tried to risk your own life to stop that! You're an idiot! You know there's a huge difference between being brave and being stupid – what you did was absolutely, without question, very, very stupid!"

"I'm sorry…" He again mumbled, "I wasn't thinking at the time…"

"But… It didn't matter." She replied, "Hina is a friend. If they did inevitably touch her, the end results would have still been the same. Those men would still have died by my hands."

Was she saying that to make him feel better, or was it the truth? In a way, he didn't want to really know. He still held her tightly, and muttered, "Kyoko, I don't think you're a bad person. No, I _know_ you're not a bad person."

"Do you mean that Makoto?" She asked in a small voice, "You don't think less of me for murdering them?"

"You were protecting us," He replied, "If our positions were reversed, I would have done the exact same thing."

"Thank you…" She mumbled as tears continued to flow, "Thank you so much." She repeated again, holding him tightly.

As she looked up, their faces were just mere inches apart, and Makoto got déjà vu, the difference being the girl was Kyoko now instead of Aoi. Again he could go through with it, he wasn't entirely sure if it was the right call. However, even as he thought about kissing Kyoko, Aoi appeared in his head, and he turned his head away, allowing the moment to pass. If Kyoko noticed, he hoped she wouldn't question him about it.

After that, they just stayed quiet and kept each other company, before they finally parted, going to their own rooms for the night.

Makoto paused at his room door to watch Kyoko walk to her room, and as she reached her door, she just happened to look over as well. Their eyes locked, and despite his blush, Makoto gave a small wave, which she returned.

Entering his own room, Makoto went to lie down on his own bed, and all he could think about was one thing – why he felt so conflicted regarding both Kyoko and Aoi…


	7. Starved

Chapter Seven

Starved

Yasuhiro felt more relaxed now than he had in days. He honestly could hardly remember the last time he could just sit back and relax in a car – though this time was a bit different, he supposed, since he was the one driving it, but still the point stood that inside a vehicle going anywhere from twenty to sixty miles per hour (depending on multiple factors), they were almost completely safe from the zombies trying to kill them. They'd just drive pass an area, and before more than dozen or two of the monsters started forming into a cluster, they were already long gone.

In the passenger seat was yet again Byakuya, who after talking with Yasuhiro for a solid twenty minutes earlier that morning about the directions, was now just reading a book he must have gotten from one of the houses they stayed the night at. For the first time in a long while, he could focus solely on the book, and not his own survival.

Toko was in the back, and she was drooped to the side, her head resting on Kyoko's shoulder as she slept. Yasuhiro recalled that Kyoko said that the girl needed her rest, so he figured that it was ok. Kyoko in the meantime was just watching the scenery outside pass by, her eyes drooping every now and then.

In the bed of the truck were Makoto and Aoi, who were both relaxing too. Earlier they were talking a lot, and Yasuhiro could even see them laughing through the rearview mirror, but now they were silent, just leaning against the truck and watching the scenery like Kyoko had been, as they continued to drive down the side streets and out roads.

Everything was going absolutely perfect… That was until there was suddenly a loud beeping noise, ringing out three times. He looked down at the gas gauge and let out a groan, "Looks like we're running low on juice again," He reported to Byakuya, who looked up from his book.

Byakuya set his book down on the dashboard, and his eyes now scanned the area they were in, "Make sure you don't drive into any populated areas," He warned, "The car makes enough noise to attract them all within a mile."

"Yeah, I know," Yasuhiro replied as the car turned down a hilly road, "Oh, hey, look." He pointed to what looked like a mall, the parking lot of which was full to the brim with cars. "Should I go there?"

Byakuya nodded slowly, "Be sure to park as far away from it as you can though, no doubt the monsters are lurking within the parking lot and inside the building. I'd prefer not to get stuck in there."

It turns out that Yasuhiro's assessment was incorrect – it wasn't a mall, it was a large casino, and as Byakuya predicted, there were plenty of the undead wandering around the lot. The building itself looked absolutely grand – a lot of work must have been put into the design of the place. The main building had columns lining up the entry way, and what looked like a large dome in the entry hall, and the actual casino looked to be two floors tall. Attached to the casino was what looked like hotels, and Yasuhiro had no idea how many people could fit in there.

He snapped out of looking at the casino however, and slowly pulled into the lot, parking as far away as he could possibly get. Unfortunately, he still alerted some of the zombies, and they started walking towards the car as he turned it off, but both Makoto and Aoi made short work of them, killing the dozen or so that he attracted with relative ease. With that, he got out of the car, and went to the other side where Kyoko and Byakuya were talking.

As everyone came over, Kyoko spoke aloud so they could all hear, "Be sure to leave your bags in the car – Hiro, make sure it's locked."

"No problem," He replied, locking the car just as Makoto tossed his bag inside, "Alright! Let's get some gas!"

"Hold on," Kyoko suddenly looked sharply in one directly, and her eyes narrowed – there's two figures coming towards us."

Aoi got her bow ready, "Just tell me when to shoot!"

"No, they're not the undead," Kyoko shook her head, "They're over there, by the red car." She pointed to a cluster of cars much closer to the casino, and everyone could see that Kyoko was right – it was two figures, and they were clearly human. Another notable thing was that they were both female, and appeared to be just a little older than the rest of them.

One of the girls had her black hair tied back into a ponytail, and she had narrow eyes that glared harshly at the zombie whose head she just smashed in with her hammer. Like everyone else in the world now, her clothes were torn and ragged, and they only consisted of a tank top and some shorts. After she kicked the zombie she killed aside, she started to look inside the red car they were close to.

The other girl stood off to the side, her eyes scanning the surroundings. Her hair was cut extremely short, almost to the point where she was bald. The only reason they were able to discern that she was a girl was due to her chest. Like her sister, she too wore a tank top and shorts, and she had a hatchet in her hands. It was her who suddenly spotted them, her eyes widened and she called over to her sister.

"Shit!" Byakuya cursed under his breath, getting into cover behind their own vehicle, the rest doing the same, "Aoi, get ready to shoot on my mark!"

"B – But they're human!" She cried.

"I'm not saying kill them now! Just do what I say!" Aoi wasn't happy at all as she put an arrow in her bow, but she knew now that it was best to not be so trustful, despite what her feelings told her.

"Stop where you are!" He yelled as the sisters started coming towards them, "If you come any closer we _will_ shoot!"

"Ya have a gun?" The bald one asked, her eyes widening, "Aw shit, we don't want ta cause any trouble!" She dropped her hatchet to the ground, and lifted her hands into the air, her sister quickly doing the same beside her.

"Well…" Makoto mumbled so only his group could hear him, "We're not aiming a gun at them, but if they want to believe that, it's fine with me…"

"Why are you here?" Byakuya called out to the girls standing still in the parking lot.

"We're just looking through the cars out here!" The bald one answered yet again, "We aren't here ta hurt you or anyone! We live in the casino there with our dad! Honest! The name's Haruka, my sister 'ere is Rei!"

"I don't think they mean us any harm," Aoi muttered, her arms beginning to strain from hold the bow, "What do you want me to do?"

"Lower your bow for now," Byakuya muttered to her, and then he raised his voice, "Just go on your way now and we won't harm you!"

"W – Well…" The other girl – Rei – finally spoke up, "Maybe we can help you out? You're in our land anyway, and dad always told us to take care of guests!"

"Their land?" Kyoko repeated, "Well… I suppose whoever owns the establishment is most likely dead now…"

Pushing _that_ unpleasant thought aside, Yasuhiro looked thoughtfully, "Why don't we take em up on that offer? Maybe they would be willing to trade or something?"

"We d – don't have much to t – trade, you idiot." Toko reminded him, "J – Just tell them to go away."

Byakuya thought about it for a little bit, and finally called, "What would you be willing to help us with?"

"We have a lot of food inside!" Rei replied happily, "Hell, y'all can even take some if you want!"

"We also got some of them games inside the casino workin again! It's pretty good for some mindless fun!" Haruka exclaimed, "C'mon, we haven't had guests in a little while, it'll be fun!"

Before anymore negotiations could continue, they all heard the load moaning of the zombies coming, and they could see that their shouting to one another was causing quite a few to make their way towards them. Makoto wasted no time in drawing out his sword, and Yasuhiro and Aoi were both prepared as well. Toko covered her head and began to shake, while Byakuya and Kyoko stood back, allowing the others to fight.

Coming towards them were only a dozen or so of the zombies, and the three of them would be able to manage it easily enough, but the two sisters, wielding their weapons came over to help as well, and it was a one sided slaughter. The zombies hardly ever got a chance to even bite at them, since they were long dead by one of the five fighters.

"Rei, was it?" Yasuhiro asked the black haired girl shortly after the engagement, "The name's Yasuhiro, but my friends just call me Hiro!" He held out his hand, and was pleased to see that she returned his smile and shook his hand as well.

"Your crew can fight well," She complimented, "I can see why you've survived so long."

"Well, actually, we've only just started doing this a little over a week ago." Yasuhiro admitted, and the girl looked honestly confused, "Ah, don't worry about it."

"Ya know, why haven't ya cut your hair?" She asked, "Isn't it dangerous to have it so long and puffy?"

"H – Hey… My hair's just fine!" He protectively rubbed his hands through it, and then he noticed the rest of the group making their way over, "Ah, hey guys."

"Since you helped us out there," Kyoko mumbled, "We'll trust you guys for now." Makoto looked over at her, and it was obvious that he wasn't too happy with how mistrustful she was of these people.

Yasuhiro however couldn't care less if Kyoko was still a bit wary of the two sisters, he was just glad that they've found survivors that didn't want to hurt them! Not to mention, Rei was pretty cute, if he had to admit, his cheeks warming slightly as he thought of it. "So Rei, you said your dad was in there?"

"Yeah," She nodded, smiling brightly at him, "He's the one who brought us here when the outbreak started. It was originally one of the evac centers that people were goin to." She explained, "Well… Lotta people were 'ere, but turns out that the evac zone was moved somewhere else."

"That would explain all the cars here," Byakuya nodded slightly, "Why did you decide to stay here? Surely you were aware that with so many people in one location there were bound to be lots of the undead as well."

"Yeah, that was a problem at first!" Haruka exclaimed, "But the undead are a pretty stupid lot, it doesn't take much to outsmart them as long as yer quiet and ya know what yer doin."

"I can't argue with that," Makoto agreed, "As long as you don't let them surround you, they're not too bad."

"Ah!" Haruka gasped, a light blush appearing on her face, "Look at me just stayin out in the sun talkin like this! You guys are probably hungry, eh?"

"You promised that we could have some of your food, right?" Byakuya asked, "Then I'd appreciate it if you did indeed allow us to come in."

That was Byakuya for you, being less than humble – he didn't even thank them properly! "Hey, thanks for helping us out," Yasuhiro replied, covering for Byakuya's rudeness, and grinning happily when Rei chuckled.

"Aw, it's no problem. Like we said, we don't get many visitors around here!" Rei replied.

"'Cept for the undead," Haruka grumbled, "Stupid rotten flesh – they're no good for anything."

Kyoko frowned a bit at what she said, but kept her mouth shut, following the group as they walked towards the entrance, leaving their car behind for now. The closer they were to the entrance, the more and more cars were scattered around. It seemed that after all the closest parking spots were taken, desperate people hoping to get evacuated started parking in the middle of the road, causing even more chaos.

They just ignored the obvious signs of the chaos that came to pass near the entrance, there were large fences that were knocked over, luggage left abandoned, and there were even blood stains here and there, though it was clean of corpses. I wasn't that surprising, they figured, since apparently these two girls lived there with their father. They then entered through the front doors of the casino, and stopped.

If someone told them that it was a resort, they would have believed it, everyone in the group with the exception of Byakuya looked up at the ceiling in awe – the glass dome above looked amazing, with all sorts of designs of flowers, landscapes, and even pictures of the ocean and sky, all beautifully lit up by the sunlight shining through. The rest of the room wasn't bad either, there was a large fireplace off to the side with a lot of chairs gathered around it – broken or otherwise – and on the opposite wall was a large sitting area.

"Holy crap," Makoto muttered, "This is amazing!"

"Isn't it?" Rei asked, and then she turned to Yasuhiro, "Do ya like it?"

"I've never been to a place that looked this fancy before – isn't this supposed to be a casino?" He asked uncertainly, looking over to Byakuya for an answer.

"Why are you asking me?" Byakuya grumbled, looking quite annoyed, but he did decide to indulge him, "Owning a casino is a very profitable business," He explained, "_very_ profitable. People gullible enough to come gamble here lose way more money than they earn, and that translates to huge earnings for the casino. Why do you think there's a hotel right next to here? It's so people stay the night and lose even _more_ money."

"I take it you're not a fan of gambling?" Kyoko asked him.

"Ugh, I'm not like Celestia, I don't take pleasure in throwing money away." He paused, and his face momentarily darkened at the memory that she brought up.

"Was this Celestia girl a friend of yours?" Haruka asked, noticing his expression, and her own face softened, "We've lost a lot of friends too since the outbreak started…"

"It wasn't due to the outbreak," Aoi replied, "It was… something else…"

The sisters knew not to press the issue when the entire group seemed to get a bit gloomy at the mention of whatever this 'something else' was, so they changed the subject, leading the group further into the casino. "C'mon, dad's probably playin some of the games. It's pretty fun if you want to waste away a few hours!"

"How do you have games if the electricity isn't working?" Kyoko asked, following the group as they walked through the grand entrance room.

"They don't rely on electricity," Haruka explained, "Dad got em workin so you can just pull the lever and the slots work. Course, that means only the traditional machines work, all them electric slot machines are obviously worthless."

"I see," Kyoko said evenly.

They walked a little further in, and pass the entrance room was an absolutely expansive floor where hundreds, maybe even thousands of machines sat, all of them were powered off, and it was incredibly dark, since no natural light could reach that far once they exited the entrance room. "You think they'd put some windows in here or something," Yasuhiro mumbled.

Rei beside him giggled, "Nah, dad says that the buildin's intentionally designed like this so you can't keep track of time. I think he's just foolin, but ya never know."

"It wouldn't surprise me," Yasuhiro replied, "So uh, we're not going in there are we?"

"No!" Rei shook her head, "It's too dark, and there's a lotta zam-zams in there! We stay over here near the light and then go to our own hotel rooms at night so they can't get us."

"Um… Excuse me?" Aoi spoke up, "What did you call them?"

"Zam-zams!" Rei repeated, "I mean, 'zombie' is kind of a stupid word if you think about it, don'tcha think?"

"Um… And zam-zam is better?" Aoi asked, disbelief clearly etched on her face.

"Sure is!" Rei exclaimed.

Aoi looked like she wanted to pursue the topic further, but Kyoko placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her head. 'It's not worth it' was what that told Aoi, and she wisely decided to stop talking about it. Aoi finally muttered, "Well, that's good, I guess."

"C'mon, why are y'all talkin for so long? Let's go see dad and tell 'im we have some guests!" Haruka said, gently smacking the back of her sister's head.

"Yeah!" Rei exclaimed, grabbing Yasuhiro's hand, "Dad's pretty funny, I know you'll like him!"

Yasuhiro blushed as her hand clasped against his, but he didn't pull away, and allowed the girl to run still holding him. It meant he had to run to keep up, but really, she was cute, and he wasn't one to deny a cute girl. The rest of the group followed a lot slower, and then went down the lit up hallway, the expansive dark gambling floor to the right the entire time. Eventually there was an opening to their left, and it was a _much_ smaller room, though it too had a lot of slot machines inside.

"Hey daddy!" Rei called, "Look who we found!"

On one of the nearby slots, a man looked over – he was smoking a cigarette, had a prominent beard, very messy hair, and two eyes hidden behind his glasses. He just wore a torn up T-shirt and some jeans, and he narrowed his eyes at Yasuhiro. "What's this?" He asked gruffly, "You went and found yerself a boyfriend?"

"Daddy!" The girl exclaimed, her cheeks coloring, "No! He's just a friend."

"Son…" He looked over his glasses at Yasuhiro, "Just what are your intentions with my daughter? You'd best be honest, I know if yer lying."

"Um…" Yasuhiro felt sweat forming on his brow, and he wiped it away, "I have no intentions with your daughter sir! I just met her, I can't really do anything in that amount of time, don't you think?"

"Wha – What?" Rei looked at him with big watery eyes. "I – Is it because I'm too old for you?" She managed to get out between her sniffles. Honestly, the thought never even crossed his mind, since Rei was at least a head shorter than he was.

"No!" He cried, "You're cute, but uh… We got to get to know each other first before w – we do something like that…"

"So you _DO_ have some intentions in mind for my daughter!" The man stood up, and approached Yasuhiro. His figure was like a tank, and though he wasn't taller than Yasuhiro, he knew that the smaller man could still kick his ass.

"U – Um…" he stuttered, taking a step back.

The man stopped right in front of Yasuhiro, and after another few seconds, a smile spread across his face, "Dear god boy, you shoulda seen the look on yer face!"

Yasuhiro looked incredibly confused as father and daughter both started to laugh hysterically, and he felt like he was just left out of a joke. "U – Um… What?" He managed to get out, "What's going on?"

"I was just foolin around with you, boy." The man said, "The name's Kou – don't call me 'Mister' either, boy, I don't want nothing to do with that until I'm older."

"But you're already old," His daughter reminded him, a wide smile appearing on her face when her father gave her an annoyed look, "But I love ya anyway."

"Are you two done foolin around with 'im?" Haruka asked, walking into the room with the rest of the group in tow, "You're gonna scare them off, and we don't want that, do we?"

"No, I guess not," Kou replied, "So there's six of ya? That's quite a big group to be wanderin around out there with."

"We work well together," Byakuya simply stated, "We're here because your daughters have offered us some food, is this true?"

He lifted a brow at Byakuya's forward manner, but didn't get upset, instead he just smiled, "Aren't ya usually supposed to tell me yer name first, son?"

"You may call me Byakuya, if you must," He said sharply, "Now is it true?"

If anything, Kou just seemed more amused than before, and chuckled, "Sure do. Actually got plenty of food in storage in the back." He grinned, "But why eat now? Why don't you stay a while and have some fun?" He looked towards the slots, "Money's worthless now, but we just use it to play these machines when we're bored, you wanna try?"

"No, not really." Kyoko replied, just as eager as Byakuya to get out of there.

Makoto couldn't help but feel tense as he watched Kyoko – she had on her normal façade, sure, but there was an edge to her voice, and she seemed to be far more alert. Maybe he was just overthinking things – they were in an unfamiliar location after all. Still, he just felt off, and as a result, he too was looking around, trying to see if they were in danger.

"Aw, come on!" Yasuhiro exclaimed, "It'll be fun!"

Byakuya grimaced at Yasuhiro, who was obvious becoming infatuated with the stupid woman at his side, and he let out a disgusted sigh, "Fine. One hour. We'll stay for _one_ hour, and then we're leaving."

Yasuhiro smiled, "Thanks man." Before anything else could be said otherwise, he was quickly pulled away by Rei, leaving the rest awkwardly standing around.

Byakuya let out a long sigh, and took the nearest seat next to a slot machine, having no intention of playing it, and Toko sat right beside him, similarly unimpressed. Haruka meanwhile looked at Makoto, and started dragging him away, but two very irate girls followed them before he could even go more than a few steps with the girl alone.

"So… How've you been all this time?" Kou asked the only two remaining.

"We don't need to speak." Byakuya remarked sharply.

"I was talkin to the lady," Kou politely said, his eyes looking directly towards her.

"Um…" She looked at Byakuya and hid a little bit more behind him, "F – Fine I guess… J – Just don't talk to me."

Kou was a little taken aback by that, blinking a few times at such a rude dismissal by the two teenagers, but he finally shook his head and stood up, "Well, if all we've got is an hour, then I guess I'll go prepare the food for ya – I'm sure you'll enjoy it."

"What do you mean by that?" Byakuya asked, "It's just canned food, we've been eating that for a while now."

"Oh? All you've been eatin is canned food? No wonder you're so grumpy." He chuckled, "You'll be in for a surprise then." He walked away, ignoring Byakuya's questions with ease.

"What does he mean by that?" Byakuya wondered aloud.

"I – I don't have a good feeling about this." Toko muttered, shifting in her seat uncomfortably.

'Neither do I," Byakuya admitted, "But Yasuhiro is smitten with some wench he just met, and Kyoko and Aoi are too busy trying to prevent Makoto from behind dragged away to give a shit."

Toko's eyes widened. It was rare when Byakuya looked this stressed out, and it made her just as stressed, and she began to shake, "W – We'll be fine, right?"

Byakuya let out a soft sigh, "Yeah. Of course we will be. I just want to go…" He mumbled, looking vulnerable for only a few seconds before he pulled himself together. "Just fifty eight minutes left to go…"

Meanwhile, Yasuhiro was pulled to a different room altogether. There weren't any slots in this room, and instead there were a few tables that he assumed people played poker or other cards games at. Chairs were scattered about, but she settled in one at a table nearest to the windows, and he did as well, a goofy smile on his face the entire time.

"Do ya know how to play poker?" The girl asked, pulling a deck of cards from her pocket, "We should play a few games while we… talk." She smiled, and Yasuhiro knew that he hit the jackpot – she was interested! After traveling with three girls who were either emotionless, insane, or – well Aoi wasn't too bad he supposed – but anyway, having a girl who actually acted like a stereotypical girl was refreshing, especially since she was totally into him.

"Uh," His thoughts returned to the present, and he chuckled, "Um… Poker? Uh, sorry, I'm not too familiar with it."

"Well that's ok," Rei replied, "I can teach ya."

"The only cards I really use were tarot cards back before…" He paused, and finally muttered, "This."

"Tarot cards?" She asked, looking at him curiously.

"Yeah, you know, they're used for divination and things like that," He explained, "There's the hierophant, lovers, fortune, and a lot more. It's used to predict the future."

"So you're like a fortune teller?" She wondered aloud.

He resisted his impulse to yell that he was MUCH more than that, but he held it in, and shook his head, "Eh, not quite. I'm actually the Ultimate Clairvoyant – back before the outbreak, I was going to a school due to being so good at it."

"The ultimate?" She muttered aloud, "So you were better than everyone else?"

"Not quite," He shook his head, watching her shuffle the cards, "It'd be more accurate to say that I was the ultimate _upcoming_ clairvoyant, not the current best one."

"So you were one of those folks attending Hope's Peak?" She asked, and his eyebrows shot up, "What? Everyone heard of it, before all this trouble happened, me and my sister always dreamed of going there – the elite of the elite…" She sighed, "Too bad it didn't work out."

Yasuhiro chuckled humorlessly, "You were lucky…"

"Did you say something?"

"No," He shook his head, "So… You're gonna teach me to play?"

"Actually, since you're supposedly a fortune teller," His eyes twitched at that word, "I want you to tell me a fortune! It'll be fun!"

"Usually I charge my clients a thousand dollars for a standard reading, but…" He looked thoughtful for only a few seconds before his grin broke out again, "Given the situation we're in, I guess I can give you a discount of one hundred percent."

She giggled, and he again felt a goofy smile work its way on his face, "Thank you!" She exclaimed, "So what do I do?"

He had none of his tools, and really, he wasn't a fortune teller, despite what the girl said. He was similar to it sure, but he wasn't damn it! That aside though, he had to be in a certain mood to tell fortunes, and while he did fancy the girl, he didn't really feel up to doing his usual job, though he did feel a tad nostalgic as he took her hand into his and stared intently at it, tracing lines on her palm.

"That tickles!" She exclaimed, though she was still smiling, "What are ya doin?"

"Is this your dominant hand?" He asked suddenly, and then he blinked, "Oh, sorry, it's palm reading. It's a form of," He tried not to sigh, "Fortune telling, and I'll tell you your future. I'm right about thirty percent of the time!"

"Only thirty?" She asked, her eyebrow raising, "That's a bit low, don't ya think?"

He shrugged, "The future can change at a moment's notice, so I wouldn't say so," He then sighed, "Plus, I never predicted the outbreak ever occurring, and I've been doing this kind of thing for years…"

She noticed his mood dropping, so she snapped her fingers, "Hey, you were readin my palm, right?"

"Oh, yeah." He shook his head, "Anyway, is this your dominant hand?" She nodded, and then he continued, "You're left handed? Interesting. Then since I've got your right hand here, that means that it represents your future."

"Alright," She replied, giving him her complete attention.

Now he was getting more and more into his element as he examined her hand, first looking at the lines of her palm, he identified the ones he'd need, "Here's your heart line, your head line, your life line, and your fate line," He traced them all for her to see, "We'll start with your heart line, which will tell us how your love life is."

She blushed at this, but looked shyly towards him, "So what does it say?"

"Notice how it stops right below your index finger? It means that you're content with how your love life is right now." He explained.

"Well, I guess that's true," She mumbled, "I don't want to have any lover during all of this, though…" she paused, looked at him, and giggled, which only caused him to blush as well.

"A – Anyway… Next is your headline, and due to the lines going through it, it tells me that you're either in or going to be in an emotional crisis. Your life line tells me that you can be easily manipulated by others – be sure to watch out what others say to you." He warned her quickly, "That's not the greatest one to have."

"I'm sure I'll be fine with daddy and Haruka with me!" She said, seemingly not disturbed one bit by one he said.

He nodded slowly, "Al… Right then… Finally, your fate line tells me that – oh, hey – you often get the support you need from close friends and family, I guess you're right." He smiled at her, "That's good to know."

"That was really cool!" She exclaimed, looking at her hand in the daylight, "How can you memorize all of that information?"

"I've been doing this since I was a kid," He explained, "I was forced to remember it or else I would be punished," He let out a sigh, "Man, it's nostalgic to think about…"

"You'd be punished?" She asked, her eyes widening, "Yer parents don't mess around, do they?"

"It was never anything bad!" He assured her, "It's more accurate to say that they don't reward me, I suppose." He shrugged, "Anyway, why did you bring me out here alone?"

She blinked in surprise at the really abrupt change in subject, "Eh…" It took her a little bit longer to adjust to the new subject, "Um… Oh!" She smiled, "Well, I thought you an' I could just spend a little alone time together… You seem like an interesting person, and I wanted to be with you a little longer… Is that so wrong of me?"

"Um…" He smiled, "I guess not, usually I'd like to know someone before it gets… Like this… But since the world's screwed up anyway, might as well, right?"

"Exactly!" She exclaimed, "Though we shouldn't get too far ahead of ourselves!" She grabbed the deck of cards, "Let's play some poker first, then maybe later we can…" She smiled mischievously, "Do something else?"

His inner Kyoko was ringing alarm bells, but he squashed her and just nodded, "Yeah, that's fine."

With another cute laugh, she began dealing the cards, and letting him know how to play.

While Yasuhiro was busy spending time with Rei, Makoto was having a far less interesting time, sitting at a table in what he could only assume used to be a huge restaurant, and three girls all sat around the same table with him. He knew many people may be envious of his position, but he had a bald girl he barely knew wrapping her hands around his arm, and on his other side, Kyoko of all people was doing the same, while Aoi just growled threateningly from Kyoko's side at the other girl. He felt so horribly out of place and even a bit of scared, and he just wanted out of there.

They were seated at a round table near a window, which fortunately provided them with more than enough light to see the room. There was even a bar in the place, though it looked like all the liquor was long ago spent, though there were a few glass cups still on the bar, which looked like they have been used recently – which made sense, Makoto supposed, since Haruka and her family lived here now. The most curious thing was a door behind the counter that was padlocked shut, a security feature that seemed mostly unnecessary with the way the undead acted.

"Um…" He smiled, his attention returned to the girls around him, and trying to appear friendly to both parties he said, "How about you _both_ just let go of my arms and we can just… talk?"

Haruka either didn't seem to notice how sour the other girl's moods were, or just didn't have a care in the world, because she leaned closed to him and began to coo, "Aw, are ya afraid of me?"

He blushed at how close her face was to his – prior to the outbreak, she must have been very pretty, because he could still see hints of that now. "Um… No, not really, it's just, ah…"

"You're making him uncomfortable!" Aoi exclaimed, "Let him go!"

"Aw, but you two are awfully close over there, are ya both with 'im then? Don't want a third girl to come in and join ya little group?" Haruka's smiled wided on the huge red blush that appeared on all of their cheeks, and they all suddenly separated from one another – Aoi, who was practically hanging off of Kyoko – was at least an arm's length away. Kyoko meanwhile let go of Makoto, only now realizing how it made her look, and she internally cursed herself for allowing her emotions to control her actions.

"D – Don't make jokes like that!" Makoto demanded, "We're just friends."

Both Kyoko and Aoi felt as if they were hit in the gut with that – didn't Makoto like them? They then looked at each other and again blushed – were they having the same thoughts too? Kyoko cleared her throat, her emotions falling cleanly behind her erected mask, "Makoto's right, we've been friends for…" she paused briefly, "A few years, I suppose."

Technically that was true, but given that they couldn't _remember_ those years, it was more like about two months, if even that long. Still, it did give them pause, and Kyoko wondered if their trust for one another was present in their earlier memories, and that was why she could trust Makoto so much easier during that 'game'. It wasn't a thought worth pursuing _now_, but it was definitely worth thinking about later.

"So ya went ta school together or something?" Haruka asked, still annoyingly hanging onto Makoto's right arm.

"Yeah," Aoi nodded, using what she could recall from what Junko told them, "Two years ago we got into Hope's Peak Academy, and we hung out a lot together back then…" She couldn't help but let a pained look cross her face, and it was easy to understand why – it _hurt _to think about all of all of them who killed each other and died, unknowingly killing their own friends…

"Hope's Peak?" Haruka repeated perking up, "So y'all have some really cool powers then?"

"Uh, power?" Makoto repeated, "No. Not really." He tried to maneuver his arm out of her grasp, but she only held on even tighter.

"Yeah, don't ya got to be some sorta ultimate something or another to get in?" Haruka elaborated, and a dawning realization came upon the rest of their faces.

"Oh," Aoi was still glaring at the girl since she was holding Makoto, but she was still at least trying to be civil – only an hour and they could leave, thank god. "I got in due to swimming, I was known as the 'Ultimate' Swimmer."

"It's not worth mentioning what I was," Kyoko quickly stated as Haruka's eyes went to her. She was still apparently a little bitter that Makoto wasn't struggling a little more to break Haruka's grasp.

"And um, I was the 'Ultimate Luck', he chuckled, "I ended up getting in due to a lottery." He saw Haruka frown at that, "W – What?"

"A lottery? Luck? You shoula went to a casino if ya were considered the ultimate lucky person!" Haruka exclaimed, pressing her body into him and smiling as the pink again flared up on his cheeks, "Hey, since you're so lucky, why don't ya-"

Kyoko suddenly slammed her hand on the table, causing everyone else to jump, "Who _are_ you to just suddenly climb all over him like that?" Then her glare turned towards Makoto, "And why aren't you pushing her off of you? You barely know her, and yet you're allowing her to do that to you!"

"Aw," Haruka cooed, easily fanning the flames, "Are ya jealous?"

Makoto's face blushed at that – he was aware that both Aoi and Kyoko were a bit peeved about Haruka, but that was because he thought they didn't trust her… Was it possible that it was due to jealousy? He again remembered his conflicted feelings, and looked aside, not sure how to feel about either of them quite yet, other than he just wanted to be friends for now – there was a lot more to worry about in their situation than romance after all.

Still, he could at least appease them and get Haruka off of him, "Um, I'm sorry Haruka, but can you please stop antagonizing my friends?" She looked surprised towards him, but he was glad that both Aoi and Kyoko looked at him with a pleased look, "And… Just let go of me, please. I'd like to get to know you first before you try to do something like that to me."

Haruka looked incredibly put off, and she let go with a huff, "Fine, I guess. You city folks were always more prudish than us, I remember that." She didn't stay down for very long though, since a smile suddenly popped back up on her face, "I'm sorry if I came off as rude," She settled down in her chair and smiled at the other girls, "It has just been a while since a cute boy walked in 'ere."

Aoi tried not to bristle again at the words the girl was saying, but she was making it very difficult not to do so. "Yeah… It's ok." She grounded out, smiling politely back at her.

Kyoko however, had no reservations about showing her dislike and she just frowned, "Fine." Was all she said, and nothing more was spoken, her emotions were hidden from view, but it was obvious to Makoto that she didn't really trust the girl one bit.

"So can ya tell me about this school ya used to go to?" Haruka asked, "What was that elite place like?"

"It was… Fun." Makoto replied, choosing his words carefully, trying to piece together some sort of recollection through all the pictures he saw of his life in the school before his memory was erased, "We were the seventy eighth class, and we all got along really well."

"Yeah!" Aoi nodded, "We had a lot of friends, like Sakura…" The mood suddenly fell hard at the mention of that name, and she looked down.

"Uh, you ok?" Haruka asked carefully, "You ain't lookin too hot right now!"

"It's just a bad memory," Kyoko covered for her, "Sakura was one of the victims of the outbreak when it first started." It was a hastily put together cover story, but it worked all the same, since Aoi was clearly not acting.

"I'm sorry," Haruka replied, her face falling as well, "When the Tragedy happened a year ago, it caught everyone by surprise. All I remember was hearin reports of the dead rising in some city in the United States, and then a few weeks later, all this hell happened."

"We were too busy in class at the time to pay attention to the news," Kyoko replied carefully, "What do you remember of the outbreak?"

Haruka chuckled, "I suppose elite student like y'all couldn't be bothered to watch the news, huh? Well, like I said, it started in the United States, and then I suppose it came here because sick people were ridin in the planes, ya know? Back then we didn't know how it spread or how to kill them zam zams, so we just fell like flies in the beginning."

"The task force, with some help from the US, set up a quarantine around our major cities, and that kept the infection from spreading too quickly, but then a few months back, I guess it all just started to fall apart. Sick people got smuggled into cities, and it spread too quickly ta be contained. After that, the military started settin up these evacuation centers all 'round the country. I hear they was fleeing the country, and if you made it, they'd fly ya to one of ta battleships offshore or something, I dunno."

"Anyway, a month after that or something, everything just fell apart again. No one got power no more, food's rotten, and it's harder to come by too." She frowned, "Plenty of cars still work 'round 'ere, but where would we go? The casino is safe enough as it is, even though there's still a lotta zam zams around." She leaned back in her seat, done explaining everything, "That's all I really know, ya gotta talk to dad if ya want to know any more than that."

Kyoko took it all in, and nodded, "So you're sure that all of the evacuation centers have fallen?"

"I ain't sure of it, but it's probably the case. I hear rumors from people comin here all the time that the cities are all doomed." She shrugged, "But ya can't trust rumors I guess, right?"

"D – Do you think that we can possibly get in contact with one of these battleships – assuming they're even there?" Makoto asked, looking quickly at Kyoko, who also looked thoughtful.

"I dunno," She shrugged, "Like I said, I've been stayin here for a few months now."

Kyoko suddenly frowned, "How exactly do you still have food?"

"It's a casino, they needed to have a lotta food for everyone who came 'ere of course!" She chuckled well humoredly.

"But you even said the power is out," Kyoko pointed out, "And somehow I doubt there'd be a lot of food left here, especially after how many people came here hoping to be evacuated."

"Well…" Haruka's smile faltered, and now she looked a bit scared, "Ya know, things just worked out is all."

'You're lying." Kyoko'd eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Um…" Haruka looked nervously to the side.

"She's a perceptive one, ain't she?" all four of them looked over to see Haruka's father standing there, and in his hands was a shotgun, "Usually we can get to mealtime _before_ people start figurin out something ain't right, but occasionally we get some like y'all."

Makoto's eyes widened comically at the sight of the gun, "W – What's going on?"

Kyoko however showed no expression other than her face paling slightly, "So that's how you get food… I was wondering where other survivors might be…"

He sighed, "At first it wasn't like this, ya know, but soon we were runnin low on food, and we was all starting to starve, so…" He left it hanging, "After a few months, everyone else either left, killed themselves, or…" He smiled slightly, "Well, the rest 'decided' to stay here and provide us with a bit o' food."

Aoi's eyes suddenly widened now, "Cannibals?! You're cannibals?!"

"That's why you were so friendly and willing to give us food – you never intended to do so in the first place." Kyoko muttered, her hand slowly creeping down her jacket towards her pocket. If she could just get her gun, then they'd be in a better position.

"I wouldn't do that," Haruka's voice cut Kyoko from her thoughts, and she looked over to see that she now had a knife up to Makoto's throat, "Get yer hands away from yer pocket."

Cornered, Kyoko did just that, lifted her hands up above her head. While Kou stood there with the gun pointed at them, Haruka walked over to Kyoko, and dug her hand into Kyoko's pocket and pulled out the gun she got from the headmaster's office, and she let out a soft whistle, "Wow, a gun. These things are pretty rare, I wonder where you got it from."

"That's none of your concern." Kyoko replied evenly, "What do we have to do to have you let us go?"

"Let you go?" Kou muttered, "Ah, you're mistaken miss," He grinned at her and the others, causing all of their stomachs to just drop, "Yer gonna be dinner real soon, good night."

"Wha-." Kyoko wanted to ask what he meant, but she suddenly felt something smash the back of her head, and she was out like a light. Aoi and Makoto were similarly taken care of by Haruka, and the two cannibals stared at the bodies a little longer.

"Help me drag em downstairs, then we'll go get the others." Kou instructed, and they dragged Makoto and the others behind the counter, where Kou unlocked the door and dragged them carelessly down the stairs and into a cage. The room was pretty large – there were a lot of cages all around that were made out of all sorts of debris from the furniture from the casino upstairs, and they could hold a decent amount of people. Some of the cages held the undead with missing limbs, while others were completely empty except for a large blood splatter.

Makoto, Kyoko, and Aoi were all thrown into one together, fortunately without the zombies inside of it, and then they were left downstairs in the dim candle light. In the middle of the room was a table that had plenty of cuts and blood splattered all over it, and beside the table were all sorts of tools, all of which were also coated in blood.

Upstairs, Byakuya and Toko were sitting impatiently, though Byakuya started to get a bad feeling all the same. "He's been gone a while," He mumbled, looking to Toko, "I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this."

Toko let out a soft sigh, "Y – Yeah… Me too."

He abruptly stood up, "I'm not waiting here, come on." He beckoned her to follow him, "We're getting out of here. I don't care if they provide us with food or not. We shouldn't have trusted them so easily." He let out an aggravated growl, "Damn it."

"S – Should we split up? Y – You go get Hiro a – and I can get the rest?" She asked, her brain working fast to try and determine the fastest way out.

"No, Makoto's with Kyoko and Hina, we can get them last." Byakuya replied, "We ought to stick together."

"D – Do you think we're in danger?" She asked.

He let out a sigh, "Something has been bothering me a lot – it just doesn't add up that a place like this would still have food when so many people came here. Do you really think they'd just leave a family of three here on their own with it all?"

"That is strange…" She mumbled, "Then what do you think is going on?"

"I don't know, but it can't be good." He started walking out of the room, "Do you remember which way Hiro went?"

"T – That girl dragged him off that w- way." She pointed down the hall.

"Good." He walked at a brisk pace with Toko just a step behind him, and soon they came across the pair sitting in the gambling room playing cards. Byakuya didn't even bother to hide his distaste and he sneered, "Hiro! What are you doing?"

Yasuhiro jumped, and looked back at Byakuya with a glare, "God damn man! You scared the hell out of me! Why are you sneaking around?"

"We're leaving," Byakuya replied, "I've had my fill of this place."

"But it hasn't even been an hour yet!" Yasuhiro exclaimed, looking crestfallen, "We can't leave yet!" Rei looked incredibly displeased as well, and was giving Byakuya a glare of her own.

Honestly, they could get as upset with him as he wanted, he didn't give a shit. They just needed to get out now – all of his instincts were telling him that they needed to run, because absolutely nothing was adding up. "Yasuhiro, think for a moment – how do they have food, and why would they want to share it with us?"

"It _is_ a casino, they must have a lot of food!" Yasuhiro pointed out logically.

"Yes, that would have been true a few months ago, perhaps." He replied evenly, "But do you see all the cars outside? Once shipments stopped coming here, how long do you think their supplies would last for that many people? Not very long, I'd think. They'd start hording the supplies for themselves and leaving – it's what I'd do."

Yasuhiro looked disturbed at that, and turned to look at Rei, hoping that she would have an answer to that, but her face just paled slightly, and she looked aside, "W – Why are you asking so many questions?"

"Because I want to know what you're hiding." Byakuya replied, "Electricity stopped, so practically everything has gone bad, the canned foods must _all_ be gone by now, so that leaves a few options of what exactly this food could be." He lifted up two people, "Either you're somehow able to hunt the local wildlife enough to sustain yourself, or…"

There was the sound of a gun being pumped, and Toko let out a gasp as she and Byakuya turned around to see Kou standing there with his shotgun out. "Honestly, dear, what would you do without me?" He asked Rei, giving her a kind smile.

Yasuhiro's eyes bugged out, and he looked between Kou and Rei, "W- What's going on?"

"You haven't gotten it yet?" Byakuya spat out, "Your little girlfriend there is a cannibal! She eats other people!" He glared hard at Kou, "So when you said you were going to prepare the food, that meant us, didn't it."

Kou sighed, "Ya know, we didn't wanna do this at first, but in this world ya gotta survive, and if this is what it takes, then so be it." He aimed the shotgun at Byakuya, "If ya make any sudden movements, you will die."

"The fuck!" Yasuhiro shouted, his gaze turned to Rei, who was averting her eyes, looking genuinely sad, "You – You're… Seriously?" He just couldn't believe it – just when they thought they found trustworthy people... It turned out that they were anything but that. "God damn it…" He mumbled, looking to the floor dejectedly, "Then you were just acting friendly to me on purpose?"

Rei shook her head, "N – No… It's not true. I do like you, but…" She looked up to her dad, "We need ta do this to survive… You understand, right?"

"Eating other people?" Yasuhiro mumbled, "I can't say I understand that at all."

Rei looked like she was about to cry, but she shook her head, and her features hardened – and she looked towards her father, "Are the others already downstairs then?"

He nodded, "Yeah, they was about to figure it out themselves. If I didn't jump in when I did, Haruka woulda been in some trouble."

Byaluya's eyes widened, "The others?"

"Yep, I got yer friends all locked up downstairs, and I'm sure they're just dying to have you down there to join em." He chuckled, "You did say you wanted food within an hour, well, I suppose we can cook one of y'all up and share with ya if you want."

"You're sick!" Yasuhiro cried, "Are you even hearing what you're saying? What kind of person says something like that?! What is wrong with you?"

"You've been in this world as long as we have, haven't ye?" Kou asked, "You gotta learn how to survive like this. At first it was hard, hundreds of us stayed here in hopes that we'd be rescued. Soon as the first people started dyin, people started resorting to cannibalism… It takes a long time to get used to it, but now…" He smiled, and everyone could see a hint of madness within his eyes, "I actually kinda like it."

Yasuhiro was going to retort, but seconds later he felt something hard hit him in the back of the head, and he collapsed to the ground. Seconds before he passed out, he looked up to Rei, who was holding the handle of a knife in her hand, misery etched on her face as she mouthed, 'I'm sorry'. He wanted to shout out to her, ask her why she would do this, but it was no use, and seconds later he was out.

"Hiro, wake up, come on!"

He blinked his eyes a few times, and noticed Makoto and Aoi looking down at him, "Wha… What's going on?" He asked, his eyes adjusting to the dimly lit room they were in, "Where are we?" He looked around the room, despite being groggy, and he noticed they were placed in a small cage that seemed to be made out of some of the fence that he saw outside, and tied together with some rope.

Byakuya was busy pacing the length of the cage, cursing under his breath as he did so. Toko was sitting in the corner, gently cradling her injured arm – did she hurt it somehow? Kyoko meanwhile was looking for any structural weaknesses in the cage they were in, investigating parts of it and giving it a good push or tug here and there.

"We're trapped," Makoto replied with an edge to his voice, "These people… They're cannibals."

Yasuhiro's eyes widened as he suddenly remembered, and he sat up immediately, "Shit!" He replied, "Everyone's fine, right?" He looked around, "Did they take all of our weapons?"

"We're all fine for now," Kyoko answered, "And yes. They took all of our weapons before placing us in here." She let out a soft growl, "Damn it, I can't find any weaknesses over here…"

Yasuhiro felt around his body for the knives he usually wore in his clothing, but there was no luck. All of his pockets were searched it seemed, and he didn't have any of them on him except… He quickly felt down to his shoe, where he stored a knife hidden under the sole of his shoe. He couldn't help but smile at that – he wasn't completely defenseless. He quickly brought the knife up and pocketed it just as the door to the basement opened and they heard heavy steps on the stairs as their three 'hosts' walked down.

"Well look at what we've got here," Kou muttered, "This ought to last us for a while!" he let out a bark of a laugh, "Look at em, they all still got some meat left on their bones! It almost looks like y'all haven't been wanderin around out there for too long."

No one bothered to say that it was true, since none of them were feeling particularly gracious towards their host.

"Aw, just bein quiet are we?" He asked, "Oh well, you'll be squealin like a pig when we begin… Now, which of y'all want to go first?" Rei held the shotgun out towards them, ready to fire if they again made any sudden movements, while Haruka carried Kyoko's gun.

Another very long silence occurred, and Yasuhiro was afraid that he would be chosen. He didn't want to know what it felt like to be cut up – looking at all the bloodied instruments on the wall just made him realize that even more. He paled as Kou looked directly at him, and his finger started pointing towards him. _Shit._

"I'll do it," Makoto's voice cut right through the silence, "Just don't hurt my friends, please."

"Heh, a noble one, eh?" Kou's gaze tore away from Yasuhiro, "I can promise ya that yer friends will be just fine while I start cookin you up!" He opened the locked cage door, and gripped Makoto's arm hard, "Now come on, let's put on a show for yer friends."

"NO!" Aoi screamed, grabbing Makoto's hand, "Don't! What are you thinking Makoto?!"

"Let go of 'im!" Haruka shouted, pointing her gun at Aoi, who refused to back down. She had no intention of letting go, but Makoto jerked his hand out of hers, and gave her a pained smile.

Kyoko meanwhile was very still as she watched Makoto being dragged out of the cage and placed on the bloodied table. She started to shake as the hateful man began to tie him down, and then her blood went cold as the man found a brutally large blade, and leveled it right on Makoto's right arm, just below his elbow.

"I can promise you, this will hurt a lot," Kou promised the shaking boy he strapped in, "Are ya ready for this?"

Makoto was shaking even worse than the time than when he was almost executed during the 'game'. At least there it would have been instantaneous, but this… This would be a long and horrible death. He glanced over to his friends, and managed to steel his resolve just a little bit, "Y – Yeah…" He shakily replied, "I – I'm ready."

He barely got any time to brace himself as the blade slammed into his arm, and at first it didn't hurt, and he just stared at his partially detached hand in shock. It was then that the pain began to register, and it was worse than anything he had ever felt in his life. He wasn't able to hold in the blood curling scream as it ripped out of his throat.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed, tears beginning to stream down from his eyes as Kou lifted the blade up again to bring it down. Makoto wanted to move it out of the way, but he was strapped in, and he could only watch in terror as the blade cut even deeper into him.

"MAKOTO!" Kyoko screamed, slamming against the cage, her composure completely gone now, "NO! DON'T KILL HIM! PLEASE!" She begged, shaking the cage as hard as she could, "STOP IT!"

Yasuhiro watched in abject terror as Kou repeated cut into Makoto's arm, and he could even see splinters of bone flying around. It was only a small consolation that Makoto passed out from the extreme pain, but even then, watching his friend being butchered was something he didn't think he would ever get used to seeing. His stomach did a backflip, and he couldn't help but throw up all over the floor in front of him.

Byakuya looked at Kou with a hateful glare, and he too was shaking in fury. Toko was covering her eyes and ears, trying to block out all the noises it made as the blade cut into Makoto's arm, the sound of flesh being cut was not very pleasant. Aoi meanwhile was in severe shock, she had collapsed onto the floor, her eyes wide and her entire face completely white.

"Coward!" Yasuhiro found himself shouting, as Kou managed to fully cut off Makoto's forearm, "You're a worthless coward!" That seemed to cause Kou to look over, and Yasuhiro did anything he could think of to retain that attention, "Yeah! You just trap people and then cut them up? And you claim that you have no choice? That's what someone who's given up would say! You're nothing but a dirty coward!"

"Shut up boy," Kou warned, "Or I'll trade him out for you."

"Tch!" Yasuhiro spat out, "You're not going to scare me with that!"

Kou glanced down at Makoto's body, and then started to unbind him, "Stupid child, I usually don't like to waste meat, but this is an exception. You tried to seduce my daughter, and I ain't gonna allow that to stand!" He threw Makoto's limb into a small box off to the side, and then he lifted Makoto up and went to the cage, opening the door, he threw Makoto in, "Get over here!" He reached in roughly to grab Yasuhiro, and he managed to easily grab the boy's hair, "Now come on!"

Before Kou could close the gate, Yasuhiro reached down, acting like he was going to scratch his leg, but then he pulled out of the knife, and with a cry he slammed it into the one spot he knew would hurt – right in the man's armpit, and he made sure to dig it in as far as he could, twisting the blade as well. "THAT'S FOR MAKOTO!" Yasuhiro screamed.

"Watch out Hiro!" Byakuya ran through the opened door and slammed his body right into Kou's body just as two very loud gun shots sounded, and they all looked over to Haruka, who fired Kyoko's gun, though her face twisted in horror as she realized that Byakuya's intervention caused her father to block the shots from hitting Yasuhiro.

"NO!" Haruka screamed, watching her dad collapse to the floor with blood pour out of his mouth as he slowly began choking to death on his own blood. "How dare you?!" She screamed, ready to shoot again, but she didn't expect to get tackled to the ground by Yasuhiro, who crossed the room as fast as he could possibly go, "GET OFF ME!"

"Hell no!" Yasuhiro screamed, trying to get the gun out of her grip, but she was surprisingly strong. So he did the only think he could think of to do, and that was to smash his forehead into hers. It disoriented both of them, but he was able to retain enough sense of mind to grab the gun out of her hand and he used it to again smash her head, knocking her out.

"Stop it!" Rei cried, tears streaming down her eyes as she had the shotgun pointed at Yasuhiro, "H – How dare you?!"

Yasuhiro stood up, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he shook. He looked back towards his friends and noticed that Toko was unconscious, perhaps a consequence of seeing Makoto's mutilated arm. Kyoko meanwhile had Makoto held aside, and she was doing her best to try and treat him, but he could see her shaking violently and tears were streaming down her face as she shook her head.

Byakuya meanwhile stood along with Aoi at the front of the cage, staying still as Rei kept pointing the shotgun back at them and then to Yasuhiro. "Please…" Yasuhiro mumbled, "Put it down… I don't want to hurt you…"

Rei pointed it at him, "Y – You killed my dad…" She cried, tears streaming down her face, "How… Why…?"

"He was hurting my friend, I had no choice…" He replied, "Your sister is fine though, I promise. If you put your gun down, we'll leave you two here…"

She weighed her options, and finally shook her head, "I – I can't, you're an enemy…" She mumbled, "It wasn't supposed to be like this… B – But… I don't wanna fight…"

Yasuhiro watched her lower the gun down slightly to her side, and he acted then – he lifted up his revolver and fired once – it hit her in the shoulder, causing to look up at him with eyes that he would never forget. The pain, hurt, and betrayal in her eyes were all evident as he shot yet again, the bullet slamming into her chest. "I'm sorry," He mumbled, "But… I can't risk it… You understand, right?"

She tried to speak, but all that came out was blood as the bullet wound in her chest must have started filling her lungs with blood. Tears streamed down her eyes as she tried to lift up the shotgun, but her life was quickly fading. As she collapsed to her knees, she tried to reach out for her sister, but the last of her strength left her as she fell forward, death claiming her.

Yasuhiro was very still as he fell to his knees, the gun lay forgotten at his side as he just looked at Rei's fallen form. He… He had to do it… She wasn't giving in… He had to protect his friends… He – He had to! He shook, not caring as Byakuya and Aoi started to secure the room. "Hiro!" Byakuya shouted, "Help us! We need to save Makoto right now!"

He blinked his eyes, and slowly nodded, "Y – Yeah…" He got up, "What do you need me to do?" He was still shaking, but with some sort of objective in front of him, he was able to get his body moving again.

"He's bleeding very badly!" Aoi exclaimed, clearly trying to hold back her tears, "Kyoko says that – that she doesn't know if he'll make it!" Her lips trembled, "She says we need bandages!"

"We have some in the car," Yasuhiro replied, "We should… We need to get him out of here, we can help him in the back of the truck!" He tried to ignore his growing guilt, and instead focus on helping his friends.

"Damn it, Toko! Wake up!" Byakuya shouted as he went over to her side, slapping the girl's face, "Now isn't the time to be napping!"

Toko's eyes opened, but they all knew who it really was the moment they opened, since they had a maniacal glint, "Oh? Byakuya? What's the occasion?" She asked, giving him a wide smile as she sat up, and then she looked at her shoulder and arm in a sling, "The hell? What did the other one do to me?!"

"It's not important," Byakuya explained calmly, though it was clear that he was just about to go over the edge if anything else went wrong, "Help us gather our weapons and go to the our car – yes we have a car, we'll explain everything else once we get there!"

With that said, the group went into action. Kyoko had taken off her jacket and started ripping it apart and using it as a makeshift bandage to try and cover up the wound. Once enough strips of her clothing were applied, she just pressed right above the wound, trying to apply enough pressure to stop the bleeding.

When everyone gathered all the weapons they needed (including the shotgun), they ran out of the basement, and were unfortunate enough to see the undead had been attracted to the noise of gunfire, and they were coming out of the darkness of the casino gaming floor towards them, some even blocking their path.

Byakuya let out a feral growl, and – perhaps in a moment of madness – he grabbed one of Yasuhiro's knives, "I'm sick and tired of these delays!" He roared, and he – for the first time any of them saw – ran towards the horde and started to rip them apart. It appeared that his frustration and anger converted well into fighting the undead, and while he was upset, he was still in mind enough to not let the undead surround him or bite him.

Yasuhiro quickly joined him, and started clearing a path for Kyoko and Aoi, who were holding Makoto up, and Toko, who was grumbling as she was forced to hold almost all of the weaponry. The path was cleared quickly enough at least, and they made their way to their car, where Kyoko again began to treat Makoto.

"We need water! I need to clean the wound," She removed the bloodied and worthless makeshift bandage she made earlier, and started to use the bandage that they had stored in their car. Kyoko and Makoto were in the bed of the truck along with all the weaponry they manage to get, while Yasuhiro got into the driver's seat and everyone else got into the passenger seats.

"Be mindful that that's our drinking water!" Byakuya warned her as he got into the car, "Drive slow, Hiro, we don't want to hurt Makoto!"

Yasuhiro nodded, "It won't be too hard," He replied, "The zombies are slow, right?" He shook his head again as images of Rei filled it, and he focused on his task, as he started their car, still extremely low on gas, and started to get out of the casino parking lot, where hundreds of the undead were beginning to walk towards them.

Just a half hour later, Yasuhiro pulled to the side of the road, and the crew got together to assess their situation.

"He's stable for now," Kyoko explained as they all went to the back where she was, "Thank you for driving carefully, Hiro." She let out a sigh, "But he needs to go to see a real doctor… I don't know what else I can really do for him… He's starting to get a fever, and I fear he won't ever wake up again…" She tried not to cry, but it was no use, her façade was cracked, and they all knew it.

Aoi didn't even try to hide it, and was openly weeping, "He's an idiot… Why did he do that? Idiot…"

"He got his arm chopped off?" Genocide Jill asked, looking at it curiously, "Wow! That is a brutal lookin cut! Whoever did that must have been more sadistic than me!"

"The hospital isn't an option, clearly," Byakuya mumbled, completely ignoring Toko, "You'll need to do your best until we can get help from the military."

Kyoko looked up at him when he said that, and she noticed the desperation in his eyes, and what she told Makoto flashed back in her mind – _if there's nothing there, Byakuya was most likely going to lose hope_ – and she looked away. This was up to her, the military wasn't coming… They were truly alone.

Yasuhiro meanwhile was sitting at the front of the car, leaning against the hood, ignoring the barren environment around them and was instead focused on his thoughts. Rei had to die… She had to… He had no choice.

Like the rest of the group, he could start to feel despair gripping his heart, and he started to think only one thing: just how much longer could he take this?

XxXxXxX

Brief Notes: Yes, I know the whole cannibal plot line has been done to death when it comes to zombies, but I wanted a way to make the group start to fall apart before they reached their destination, and I figured a group of cannibals that induces huge bodily injuries and massive amounts of despair was a good enough course of action.

When writing this chapter, I went back and forth on whether I really wanted to make Makoto lose an arm, but I decided to do so in the end - it's a zombie apocalypse story after all.

Other moments I kept thinking about rewriting include:

Kyoko holding onto Makoto - it feels way too out of character, but it was cute so I decided to leave it in.  
>Byakuya charging into the horde at the end - Also feels out of character, but at least it can somewhat be justified by the shit they just went through.<p>

That's why this one took so much longer than the others.


	8. Despair

Chapter Eight

Despair

Makoto felt like he was burning up, sweat poured down his forehead as he gasped for breath, fading in and out of consciousness. He occasionally heard the others talking, and he would try to call out to them, but before too long, he would again fade out of consciousness, and fall back asleep. One of the few times when he was capable of lucid thoughts, he wondered if he was in hell, before he again lost consciousness.

Kyoko glanced over at him, still sitting in the back of the pick-up truck as Yasuhiro drove slowly, making sure not to hit any of the bumps at too high of a speed. Makoto shook his head, and mumbled a few incoherent words, and in response, she patted a wet cloth against his forehead, which was very warm due to his fever. She had already removed his sweatshirt and his shirt under that, and just had him covered with some blankets they managed to find, but even then he didn't look very comfortable as he shivered and gasped for breath, grasping onto that delicate string of life to try and stay alive.

She tried not to let it show, since she didn't want the others to worry, but she was very afraid. If Makoto died, then… She didn't know what she would do. She relied on him more than anyone else in their group, and he was their beacon of hope… With him gone, she knew that the group would end up collapsing. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, and she tried to wipe them away, but it was useless, since more would come.

Yashiro appeared to be lost in thought often, but Kyoko could see his eyes staring blankly ahead, the guilt so plainly obvious in his features. Byakuya seemed to blame himself, cursing to himself every time he saw Makoto – if only he had been quicker in figuring out what was going on… Kyoko felt the same exact way. She knew something was wrong, but she allowed them to stay regardless. Aoi appeared to be almost on auto-pilot now, she never really talked with anyone, and more often than not, she would be in the back of the truck with Kyoko, holding onto Makoto's remaining hand with her own, tears spilling from her eyes. Toko was the only one who didn't seem concerned, though that may have been more due to the fact that she was currently in her serial killer personality, so a potential death really didn't rile her up the way it did the others.

Kyoko resisted the urge to start crying again, and focused on treating him, removing the wet cloth and replacing it with a cleaner one, and adjusting the pillow behind his head when he accidentally pushed it away in his sleep. She also had to check his bandages, occasionally replacing them. The wound was as clean as she could get it, and it stopped bleeding so profusely, but it was still life-threatening.

She looked up from her patient towards the town Yasuhiro was driving towards – it was their destination, and they could see a lot of signs along the road telling them that an evacuation center was just up ahead – to have hope! Something that Kyoko lacked completely right now. However, Yasuhiro had to go slower and slower, avoiding abandoned cars and the undead, not stopping for anything.

"We're close enough," Byakuya finally spoke up after they drove a little further into the town, and the cars blocking the road became far too dense to properly drive through, "We're going to have to walk from here."

"What?" Aoi looked back towards Makoto and Kyoko, "Makoto's too injured to walk, and Toko is still too hurt to do a lot of physical stuff, you know this!"

"What do you suggest we do then?" Byakuya replied with a growl, "We've tried multiple roads, and all of them are blocked off like this, and we're within a few hours of the evacuation center. The best bet is to walk."

"We can't!" Aoi cried, "We have injured with us!"

"I'm not suggesting we _all_ walk, idiot!" He refrained himself from yelling, but just barely, "We're going to split up into two groups: Kyoko, Makoto, and Toko will all stay behind in one of these houses in this neighborhood," He waved his hand to emphasis the area they were in, "And then you, me, and Hiro will all work our way to the evac center. We'll get some help from there, and come pick the rest up!"

Yasuhiro was the one who brought up the point they have all been ignoring, "What if there's no one there, and it's in ruins like everywhere we've been?"

While Aoi appreciated Yasuhiro's caution, she was also a bit put off by how negative he has been for the last day. Ever since yesterday, he just wasn't acting like himself, and he seemed sluggish. Even now, she could see his shoulders slumped in defeat, as if he was already aware that this would be a waste of time.

"There _will_ be people there," Byakuya replied with certainty – or desperation, depending on who you asked.

"Why can't I come with you, darling?!" Toko asked, reaching up from the back seat and touching his shoulder, and he flinched away, sending a glare towards her, "Oh! Did I do something wrong?"

"You're injured. As you are now, you'll just slow us down and potentially die." He explained, "In a worst case scenario, you'll get us all killed. I'm not risking it." He got out, ending all discussion, and he went to the back where Kyoko and Makoto were.

Aoi watched him go, and she too started getting out, but she gave Yasuhiro a concerned look as she left. His head was down, and like before, his eyes looked empty, like all signs of life just up and left him. She exited the vehicle, and then made her way to the back, where she picked up her bow and arrows, feeling a lot more secure with her weapons on her person.

"How's Makoto?" Byakuya asked without preamble, climbing onto the back and grabbing his own supplies – his bag still had two of the bombs in it, and he grabbed the gun that Kyoko got from the headmaster's office, which still had a total of ten bullets left.

"I don't know," Kyoko replied, "He has a fever, and he appears to be stable right now, but I don't know how long it'll last. His condition keeps getting worse, and then it'll slowly get better. I still can't say for sure if he's going to make it through this…"

Aoi didn't even look at Makoto, knowing that if she did, tears would again be filling her eyes. Seeing him so vulnerable and helpless and having there be _nothing_ she could do about it just sent her over the edge… It reminded her of when Sakura died, how she just watched, unable to do anything to stop it… She shook her head, and scouted the area, knowing full well how important of a task it was, and it would help keep her mind off of things.

"I've talked to the rest in the car, and we've come up with a plan. We're going to find somewhere for you, Makoto, and Toko to stay safely while the rest of us go on to find the evacuation center," He explained, "Once we get help, we'll come back for you."

Kyoko looked up from Makoto, and gave Byakuya a long stare, and she finally sighed, "Byakuya… Are you sure we should still proceed like this?"

"I'm certain. There has to be someone there, or at least a radio for us to contact them with, _anything_." He replied, taking a deep breath as his voice nearly cracked at the end there, "Can we move Makoto without injuring him further?"

"If we could get a stretcher, it would make things a lot easier." She replied, "But given that I doubt we could find one, and since building one would take too much time, we can carry him, but be VERY careful with his injured arm! He reacts to the smallest disturbance with a lot of pain."

"Very well," Byakuya muttered, "Hiro! I need you to…" He paused, noticing that Yasuhiro was still inside of the car, his head pressed flatly against the wheel, "Damn it…" He grumbled, "If he keeps acting like that, he's going to be a burden!"

Kyoko looked towards Yasuhiro, a frown on her face, "He's suffering from PTSD if I had to guess," She sighed, "I wish I could help him, but I've been so busy with Makoto…"

"Is he going to be a detriment to the team if I take him with me?" Byakuya asked, "Would it be worthwhile to leave him with you?"

"I can't say," Kyoko mumbled, "He might be fine, as long as you tell him what to do, but I can't predict his behavior, I'm not psychic."

"Then he'll come with us," Byakuya muttered thoughtfully, "Hina and I wouldn't be able to do much if we got surrounded." With that said, he grabbed his bag, which still contained his two bombs, as well as the pistol. "You'll take the shotgun with you to your place. It's too large and heavy to carry with us."

Kyoko nodded, looking down at the gun and the dozen or so shells pooled around it. They were in a bag just beside her, since she kept all heavy objects away from Makoto if possible. "Very well, let's get moving." She stood up, her legs protesting initially due to how long she had been sitting down. She ignored the brief pain, and slowly picked Makoto up. "I'm going to need someone else to help me carry him."

Byakuya walked over to Yasuhiro's door and slammed his fist against it, catching the attention of the person inside, "Help carry Makoto! He's injured and we can't afford for him to risk anymore injury!"

Yasuhiro looked confused initially, but then he quickly opened the door, nearly hitting Byakuya, much to his annoyance. "Yeah, I'll help with that!" He exclaimed, looking almost happy to have a distraction, "Where is he?"

"In the back," Byakuya replied, "Where _else_ would he be?"

Yasuhiro at least had the decency to look a bit sheepish for asking such a stupid question, and he rushed to the back where Kyoko was holding him. He went to Makoto's other side, and wrapped his arm around Makoto's shoulder, "Wow. We're lucky he's as small as he is." He mumbled as they slowly got off the back of the truck.

Byakuya and Toko meanwhile were picking up the remaining weapons in the back of the truck. The Shotgun and Makoto's sword all had to be carried, since both Kyoko and Makoto were out of commission – Yasuhiro was able to carry his many knives all over his body in his various pockets as he managed Makoto, luckily. Byakuya looked around the neighborhood, and they went to the closest house first.

He didn't know what exactly to expect upon entering the household, but he supposed he should have expected it to be torn apart and in ruins, but it seemed even worse here than anywhere else they've been in the week since leaving the city. Blood was splattered all over the walls, the furniture was absolutely destroyed, and there were a few completely rotten bodies lying around. Byakuya had to resist the urge to gag and throw up, and he noticed off hand that Aoi didn't have that much resistance, and she had to lean over and empty her stomach at the putrid smell.

That house was a no-go due to that fact alone, and they left it and visited the neighboring household, and like the one before it, it was destroyed, and there were corpses strewn about, as well as a few of the zombies wandering around. Fortunately, Aoi finished them off without much trouble at all, and they searched the house – the bedrooms were destroyed, blood splattered everywhere – it looked like a massive battle happened.

"I don't understand!" Byakuya grumbled, "Why are these homes so destroyed?"

"I'd guess that it's due to the evacuation zone being so close nearby – despite being in a much smaller location, it still attracted hordes of people to come here." Kyoko explained, still holding Makoto with Yasuhiro's help, "And when a lot of people gather together, inevitably infection comes as well, and this is the result."

Byakuya was more than aware of the undertone of everything she was saying – the evacuation zone had probably fallen – but he kept his hope alight, and repeated mentally that it wouldn't be gone, there had to be something left… He led the group out of that home, and they again went to the next one, which was still a mess, but fortunately one of the bedrooms wasn't as destroyed or bloodied, so they settled on it purely for that fact.

Yasuhiro and Kyoko slowly lowered Makoto onto the bed, making sure not to aggravate his wound, and once he was flat on the bed, Kyoko went over to his arm to examine it to make sure it wasn't any worse for wear.

"Alright, Kyoko, I'm going to trust you with the safety of Makoto and Toko," Byakuya began, but he caught Aoi glaring at him, "What?"

"We should do a clean sweep of the house _before_ we leave! What if there's some of the undead wandering around?!" Aoi exclaimed, "Don't risk the lives of our friends just so you can get going sooner!"

He wanted to bite back, to tell her how wrong she was, but he knew she was right. With a sigh, he ordered Aoi and Yasuhiro to scout and clean the house of the undead, and to barricade all the entrances. They both left without a single word to do as they were asked, leaving the four of them in the room.

Genocide Jill looked very displeased, and she sat at the end of the bed with her arms crossed – or as crossed as she could get them without moving her injured right arm at all, "Why do I have to stay back? I can still kill em all with one hand!"

"I don't care how many you can kill with one hand, the simple fact of the matter that you _only_ have access to one arm to move around is why you're not coming. We've been climbing a lot in the past, and that would be nigh impossible for you to do if you came with us." Byakuya explained slowly, hoping Toko's insane persona would finally understand. He shouldn't have been so optimistic, since she again looked displeased.

"I could figure out a way," She grumbled.

"I don't care. I _order_ you to stay here. Keep Kyoko and Makoto safe. Do you understand? If I come back and see either of them harmed, I will be _very_ displeased." He recalled that Toko would obey his orders when they were in the Academy a while back, and it seemed to have the same effect out here. Genocide Jill looked positively ecstatic that her master gave her an order.

"Yes! I'll protect them for you master!" She cried, "Nothing will harm them!"

"Good." Byakuya sighed, looking up to see Aoi and Yasuhiro coming back, "Are you two ready to head out then?'

"The house is clear," Aoi looked directly at Kyoko as she said it, completely ignoring Byakuya, "Are you going to be ok here without us?"

"We'll be fine," Kyoko replied, "We're not going to be making much noise at all, so don't worry about us. Just don't forget where we are, and please, don't lose hope." She looked at all three of them, "Be careful."

"As if you needed to say that," Byakuya replied smugly, "It goes without saying that we must be careful."

Yasuhiro nodded, though he still looked a bit perturbed, "We'll be fine…"

Aoi gave Yasuhiro a concerned look again, but she knew that they didn't have much of a choice. She then gave Makoto one last long look, and she wished she could grab his hand and tell him that she would be right back, but she knew that she would start crying if she did that… "We'll be back soon," She said in general, not directing it at any one person.

"Be careful master!" Toko reiterated it, waving wildly at him as they left the room, walked down the hall, and towards the front door, "I'll miss you!"

Byakuya stopped at the front door, and called back, "If we're not back within a day, feel free to move on without us." He didn't wait for them to answer back, and he left the house, leaving most of their food and water supplies behind. They wouldn't need them, since the evacuation zone was just an hour away. Well, that was assuming they ran into no obstacles. With everything added in, he knew it would take up to two, maybe three hours.

The trio walked down the road silently together, Byakuya slightly in the lead, Aoi with her bow looking around with her ears sharp, and Yasuhiro even seemed to be more lucid as he looked around, the knives in his hand ready to attack at a second's notice. They walked pass their own car, and started to go through the traffic, climbing over cars, avoiding the undead, and things they all got particularly good at when they were crossing the highway nearly a week ago.

Yasuhiro led the three of them down the road, killing any of the undead that got too close to their small group, though Byakuya would occasionally stop them to change directions. The path, for the most part, wasn't too dangerous, relative to the situations they've found themselves in the past. The town was completely destroyed though, and was very reminiscent of the city they were in a little while back.

Telephone poles were knocked over, and the wires from those and the electricity lines were scattered across the street, and though power had long ago went away, they made sure to avoid them regardless just in case. All of the roads were cluttered with parks cars, and the ground was covered with trash, most commonly with papers claiming where the evacuation center was and how to get there. In addition to all of that however, there were many dead bodies – some of them were undead, but most were just rotten corpses, decayed by the passage of time.

The buildings also all looked rundown, not having any humans occupying them in months, nature slowly started to reclaim them. Though the town was mostly dominated by two or three story buildings, it was still imposing to look up at the greenery covering them, and wonder just what happened to the occupants who used to live there. Some of the stores they passed by were so destroyed that it was impossible to tell what they used to be – looters long ago raided this town it seemed, since they couldn't see anything worthwhile to take.

Byakuya focused his attention back forward, trying to ignore the destruction, and trying to ignore the fear that this was a waste of time. He _knew_ there was going to be an escape here! They would find help, they would find _something_ to make this not a meaningless waste of time. What would they even do if there was nothing here? This was their only hope…

"Byakuya!" Aoi snapped in his face to get his attention, "Where do we go now?"

Byakuya blinked a few times to clear his thoughts, and looked at the four way intersection they now found themselves at, and he opened up the map he kept in his pocket. He looked up at the signposts (those that were still up and readable, at any rate), and determined where they were quickly. "We need to go left here, assuming the path is safe. We can take a detour otherwise."

The three of them went left, and like before, they mechanically got back into their positions. Aoi would occasionally kill those that were farther away, while Yasuhiro cleared the path in front of him. If things ever got too bad, Byakuya had a gun and the bombs on his person, so for now at least, they were safe.

The closer they got, the more cluttered the roads became, and they had to resort to just climbing atop the cars to bypass them, since even the sidewalks were parked on. People seemed to simply forget their decency when they were panicked, which now translated to a hassle to them, and perhaps to others like them who came before. Still, the three of them were glad to see down the long road was the evacuation center.

It looked like a large public library had been converted into an evacuation center, and there was a very large sign hanging from the side of the building claiming that it was the evacuation zone. In front was a large amount of fencing that was organized into what looked like a line that people had to follow. The fence were at least fifteen feet tall, and were secured to the ground by a few weights here and there. There was even a makeshift tower near the start that had a large search light attached to it up at the top, but it was empty.

"This is it," Aoi muttered, looking at her two companions, "No one is here…"

"They must be inside," Byakuya muttered, jumping down from the hood of the car he was on and rushing forward, "Through these fences, they must be inside already!"

Aoi frowned, and followed behind him with Yasuhiro staying silent behind her. There were a _lot_ of corpses along the fences, and Aoi had to breathe through her mouth to try and combat the smell, but even that was futile, since she could almost _taste_ the rot and decay. She tried not to gag, but like before, she couldn't help it, and started to cough and gag, "It smells horrible…" She managed to get out, before she started to dry heave, since she had nothing else to give up in her stomach.

Yasuhiro gave her back a pat, and looked up towards Byakuya, who looked very annoyed. "Just give her a few seconds," Yasuhiro muttered, "She'll be fine."

She finally stopped, and they continued onward again. Yasuhiro also hated the smell, but he was at least able to keep the contents of his stomach inside, and Byakuya oddly enough didn't seem bothered at all. He walked briskly, avoiding stepping on the corpses, and soon they made it to the front doors of the library, which were broken down. Byakuya looked long and hard at the doors, and then walked in.

Sharing a glance at each other, Aoi and Yasuhiro followed right behind him, and they entered the building and looked around. The front lobby had been converted into what looked like a waiting area. There were dozens of chairs all around, and they could even see luggage by the seats as well. The book shelves were pushed aside, and in most cases it looked rushed too, since some of them were knocked over, but it was to make room for all of the people there…

… but they were all corpses. They wandered around the entire building longer, and they found it was completely empty. Not a single sign of any life within. Even behind the librarian's counter, they only found what looked to be military documents, but they were covered in blood, and indecipherable.

"There must be something here," Byakuya growled, "Look around! LOOK!" He cried, and Aoi watched his composure slowly dissolve. His eyes were wild, and she saw him shaking as he threw papers around wildly, and then he started sliding things off of the desk in an attempt to find anything.

"Byakuya…" She mumbled, "Look around you… There's nothing here."

"LOOK AGAIN!" He shouted, his voice cracking, "T – There has to be something! We have to find anything – we – we couldn't have… We needed…" He let out a few quick breaths, trying to recompose himself, but it was no use.

"Don't panic," She mumbled, though she knew it was useless, she was aware just as Kyoko was that Byakuya's hope was attached to this, and finding nothing here was beginning to take its toll on him.

Yasuhiro walked towards them quickly, and Aoi felt hoped that he had some good news, "I didn't find anything," He replied evenly, "The back entrance is open, and there's a lot of the undead around there, but no signs of where these people went."

"This!" Byakuya ignored him completely, and latched onto something, and Aoi went around the counter along with Yasuhiro to see that Byakuya found a notebook, "It – It looks like… Some sort of diary?"

"Not a diary, a log." Yasuhiro corrected, "I think the people from the military must have written this…"

"It's a rudimentary list of how many people have been processed and how many days it has been since the outbreak started." Byakuya mumbled, "There must be a clue in here, anything." He flipped through the pages, ignoring everything until he reached the end where there were a few notes written, and all three of them felt their insides going cold.

'We can't hold them any longer. There's no more order, we've tried to contact HQ, but we haven't gotten any response…' Byakuya read the note, and frowned, "This is written differently than the rest of the log," He muttered.

'We're all going to die… We're doomed. The building is surrounded, those of us in here are barricading the doors, but we don't have the food to feed all of us as well as the families secured in the building… We'll hold them as long as we can, but I fear it won't be enough.'

Aoi frowned, "So they all died in here with no escape possible?" She looked around the room, and again at the chairs and the corpses in them, the luggage suddenly making sense, "Then they came here in hopes of escaping, but it ended up being a giant trap in the end…"

"Shit…" Byakuya muttered under his breath, "Shit… Shit, shit SHIT!" He threw the book as far as he could, and it collided against a bookshelf, knocking a few books down before falling to the ground, "There's nothing here, we – we've wasted our time…" He wandered out into the middle of the room, in front of all of the waiting chairs, and he fell to the floor, "D – Do you think that I'll accept this? IS THIS IT? IS THERE NOTHING ELSE?!" He cried out, "Fuck!" Tears started streaming from his eyes, "I – I can't deal with this! Is there really nothing here?! Fuck! FUCK!"

"Byakuya!" Aoi gasped, and she noticed that Yasuhiro had also fallen where he stood, and he leaned up against the wall behind him, his hands covering his eyes. "Hiro?" She whispered his name, hoping to snap him out of whatever was wrong with him, but he was unresponsive. She looked back and forth between the two of them, and then slowly she started to hear the groaning of the zombies coming towards them, hearing the ruckus Byakuya had been making in what she assumed was a mental break down.

Aoi felt her throat constrict, and she didn't know what to do. Both of her companions were giving in to despair, and hearing the zombies coming, she felt herself wanting to give in just as well.

Back at the household, Toko impatiently paced up and down the hallway, letting out an annoyed huff every other second or so. Occasionally she would walk into the room that Kyoko was treating Makoto in, but then she'd grow bored and begin to pace again, and the cycle just repeated over and over. Though it wasn't like she cared, she was ordered by her master to protect them, and she would do that no matter what! If only it wasn't so freaking boring!

"Time won't go by any quicker doing that, you know." Kyoko spoke up when Toko walked back into the bedroom, "Why don't you just sit still for once?"

"Oh? Am I annoying you?" Toko asked, "Good! Like I give a shit what you think anyway!"

If Kyoko was annoyed by that, she gave no indication, and simply went back to watching over Makoto, rubbing his forehead to get rid of the sweat forming, and in general trying to make him comfortable. He was still gasping for breath, and he was sweating badly, but other than that, he didn't appear to be in too much trouble, at least not for now.

"Hey, don't ignore me!" Toko cried, and she walked into the room and sat directly across from Kyoko, on the other side of the bed, "Entertain me!"

"Why should I do that?" Kyoko asked, giving the girl a flat stare, "Why should I care what you want when you could hardly care about what I want?"

Toko's hand twitched, and she wished so badly to grab one of the scissors in her worn dress, but she had promised Byakuya that she would protect them, and _killing_ them was probably not a good form of protection. "Argh! Stupid bitch."

"Do you mind if I ask you some questions?" Kyoko muttered, surprising Toko.

"About what, exactly?" She asked, narrowing her eyes dangerously, "I don't like being asked too many questions."

"I just want to know a bit about you, that's all." Kyoko replied, finally glancing up at her, "is that ok with you?"

Genocide Jill briefly thought about, and finally shrugged, "Eh, fine. I'm bored as hell, and I might tell you. Not like you can tell the police about me anyway given how things are." She smiled sadistically, and a soft giggle escaped her lips.

"I was wondering just one thing," Kyoko lifted up one finger, "I want to know when exactly it was that you 'woke up', so to speak."

"Woke up?" She looked genuinely confused, "What do you mean?"

"I want to know when you first took control away from Toko and started to commit murders," Kyoko elaborated, "Now do you understand?"

"Oh! Yes, I do!" She nodded, "I can remember everything. The first kill will always be with me," She sighed nostalgically, causing Kyoko to curl her lips in disgust – the first amount of emotion she was willing to show around the serial killer.

"Why did you come out?" Kyoko asked instead of pursuing the murder topic, since she was more curious about that anyway.

"Hm, well, if I recall, my other self was in middle school when I first appeared – I've always been inside her you know, lurking, just waiting for the day to come out and wreak havoc! I've always wanted to kill, and I remember I first got control in the school – we were in a classroom alone together, and there was a cute boy in front of me, an upperclassman if I recall correctly."

Kyoko frowned, knowing where this was going, "And you killed him?"

"Why wouldn't I? I knew from my other self that I had strong feelings for this boy, and I figured the best way to show my feelings would be to murder him! I grabbed a pair of scissors from the teacher's desk, and I stabbed him good!" She couldn't help but laugh at that, as if it were the most hilarious thing in the world.

"I don't recall any bodies showing up in a school." Kyoko replied evenly, trying her best not to let her disgust show too much.

"Well if it appeared there then it would be _obvious_ that it was a student who did it, right?" She asked, "So I dragged him outta there to an alley near the school, and then I hung him up, and wrote my message on the wall with his own blood!" She let out another pleased sigh, "Oh, what a beautiful sight it was."

"How weren't you discovered?" Kyoko asked, unable to hide her curiosity. She remembered hearing about this case – her family had tried to take it on, and all she could remember was how frustrated they were that they couldn't find the culprit. It shouldn't have been hard she thought, but maybe there was something to it?

"I don't have a clue, honestly." She answered with a shrug, "I'd always make sure to kill with my scissors, and if I _had_ to use my hands, I would make sure to cover them so no finger prints could be detected, I also made sure to always burn my clothes if they got some blood on them, I didn't want there to be any evidence of my involvement, you know?"

"I still find it difficult that you were undetected," She replied, "The only reason I can determine that you got away with it so often is because of your split personality. No one expected a serial killer to just be an average middle school student."

"It worked out, so I don't really care what people think. Since they were so stupid and couldn't find me out, I could keep on doing what I loved!" She let out a pleased sigh, "Oh I wish I could do it again – these monsters we're killing now are no fun at all. They don't beg for their lives, and I can't hear their screams as I rip them open."

"What's your motivation though? Why do you murder people? What caused _you_ to exist inside of Toko?" Kyoko asked, staring at her right in the eyes, "There must have been a catalyst that started this all."

Genocide Jill shrugged, "I don't know, and I don't care either. You'd probably have to ask my other self, she was the one who has control more often than not!"

"Why don't you refer to yourself and Toko as one person?" Kyoko asked, causing Toko's face to harden in anger, "Oh? Did I hit a nerve?"

"She's weak!" Genocide Jill cried, "She is useless, she can't do anything! All she can do is mope around and write about how she wishes her life was in her stupid books!"

"But you even said so earlier that you were always inside of her, doesn't that imply that you are a part of Toko?" Kyoko asked, "Or do you just refer to her as the dominant personality?"

"Dominant?" She laughed out loud at that, "As if! If you didn't notice, we don't control who's in charge! Whenever I sneeze or if one of us goes unconscious, the other takes control." She growled, "I've been fighting for control for years, but she just won't give it up to me! She says how much she hates me, but really she's jealous!"

"Jealous?" Kyoko repeated, "In what way?"

"Because she wishes she could be as strong as me! If she were awake right now, she'd probably be crying or moping around, wondering why she is such a worthless piece of shit!" She exclaimed passionately, "She is the weaker of the two of us, and she knows this! Yet she _still_ tries to get control – she's in denial about it!"

"Interesting," Kyoko muttered, "I wonder if you _are_ a personification of all of the things Toko wishes to say, but she just doesn't have the courage to say. It's disturbing to think though that Toko really does wish to murder people."

"Oh yeah?" Genocide Jill mused aloud, "You think that?"

"Well… No. I suppose not." She replied, rubbing her chin thoughtfully, "You're both polar opposites of one another – you're violet and aggressive, while she is shy and passive. You think highly of yourself, and she hates herself. I wonder if you're both just extremes of a single personality that was split – if there were a way to somehow put you back together…"

"What is that mumbo jumbo you're saying?" Toko asked, shifting her good shoulder as she got more comfortable in her chair, "We're extremes?"

"Well, I can't say for sure, I'm not a psychologist, but it's something to keep in mind. I wonder if when your personality split, if it damaged her far more than just creating you, what if it created you _and_ her? The original Toko, the one that was the both of you combined, was lost when you both split."

"That sounds absolutely ridiculous," Toko replied, giving Kyoko a flat stare, "You know, for a detective, you can really come up with some stupid far fetched theories. Maybe you should write some science fiction novels while you're at it."

Kyoko didn't respond to the jab, and instead looked back down at Makoto, who was beginning to shiver again. Toko watched impassively as Kyoko wiped away the sweat on his face, and saw the flash of concern on her face. "It's ok Makoto… I'm here for you…" She whispered to him. Of course it didn't do anything, and Toko almost laughed, but she restrained herself and just continued to watch.

Finally a few minutes later, the shivering passed, and Makoto was just gasping for breath again, something that he'd been doing since Genocide Jill got control of her body back. "Is he going to be all right?" She asked.

"Byakuya asked me the same thing, you were there to hear my answer." Kyoko replied icily. She gave the girl across from her a glare, but then her gaze softened as she looked back at Makoto.

"It's cute to see you so worried about him," Toko stated, glad to see Kyoko get visibly uncomfortable, "Is our little detective in love, perhaps?" Oh there was SO much potential for teasing her, assuming Makoto lived.

Usually Toko didn't care if people lived or died. It was just the way of life, and honestly, she _liked_ to see people die, but in this instance there was an exception. As much as she hated everything, Toko at least had to admit that she appreciated the fact that despite knowing that she killed people for a living, they still allowed her to stay with their group, and they gave her food and sheltered her as well.

Due to that, she would keep her mouth shut when it came to Makoto. She didn't think he would live, and she knew that Kyoko was aware of that, but she didn't have to say it out loud. Who knows, maybe he _will_ get pass this. In any case, Toko found herself almost… hopeful, that he would survive. After all, he wouldn't be a very good source of hope if he were dead, now would he?

Aoi slammed her hand down on the counter in front of her, the groaning of the zombies, Byakuya's screaming, and Yasuhiro's defeated attitude almost caused her to cave in. It was so tempting, but her thoughts focused on Makoto. He wouldn't want her to die like this, and if he were here, she knew he would want them all to escape alive, and that was exactly what she was going to do.

"Byakuya!" She shouted, "What kind of Togami are you? You're giving up? So much for your family name, you worthless coward!" She turned towards Yasuhiro, "And what in the world is your problem? You're sad that you had to kill someone to save one of us?" She saw his eyes widened, and the pain was clearly visible. "It's ok to feel that way, but you can't let it make you give into despair like this! If she were here with you, would she want you to give up?"

"S – She would probably want me to perform some f – fortune telling…" He mumbled quietly.

Aoi knew that it hurt him a lot to bring it up, and what she just did was more akin to slapping a band-aid on a bullet wound that outright treating it, but it would have to do. She saw life returning to his eyes at least. She looked back at Byakuya who stopped panicking, and was instead looking thoughtfully towards the ground. "Byakuya!" She shouted his name again, "Well? Am I going to have to leave you behind or not?!"

He snapped out of his mood, and practically jumped to his feet, his gaze sharpening towards the entrance, where several of the undead were beginning to enter. "How disgraceful. This attitude is unbefitting of an heir of the Togami family! I won't bring shame upon me or my family by giving in here! I have to live! I have to make sure my family line doesn't end with me!"

"What's the plan?" Aoi called out, pulling out her bow and shooting an arrow into the nearest zombie, and then another at the one behind it. She noticed Yasuhiro going around the front counter and he rushed the horde, stabbing one in the face with his survival knife, killing it instantly, and then he stabbed yet another one. With four dead at the entrance, he got a good look outside, and his face paled.

"Shit, there's gotta be at least thirty or forty of them out there!" Yasuhiro called back to them, "And there's more coming!" He looked to Byakuya, "What do we do?" He then got the arrows out of the two zombies Aoi killed, and he went over and handed them to her.

Byakuya took stock of his inventory – two bombs, and a pistol with ten bullets. Not a lot to work with, but it ought to be enough. He reached in for one of his remaining bombs, "I'm going to clear a way through them, once this explodes, we rush through. Yasuhiro, you're in the lead, I'll be in the middle, and Hina, you're in the back. Don't hesitate about shooting your arrows, we need to survive, and if that means losing a few of them, so be it."

"Got it!" She exclaimed, readying another arrow as Byakuya activated one of the bombs and threw it out the front door. At least a dozen zombies were gathered around it, and within a few seconds, it exploded. Those that didn't die immediately to the shrapnel or the explosion were sent flying into the walls, several snapping their necks and cracking their heads open, and a few of them knocking more of the oncoming horde down, giving the trio the time they needed to go.

"GO!" Byakuya shouted, and Yasuhiro rushed out the entrance before the dust could even settle. They all knew they had precious little time to escape, and they had to make every second count. Immediately upon clearing the dust, Yasuhiro was greeted by several zombies, and he was forced to stop and deal with them all. Though it was only a few seconds, with him backing up to make sure the ones he wasn't dealing with were lunging at him, it was still enough time that the zombies started to mass up again.

Aoi took what Byakuya said to heart, and she was using the time to kill a few of the zombies ahead – three arrows in total were lost, but three zombies were killed as a result. They would have no time to gather those arrows, and they just ran on by, Aoi mournfully looking back as they passed by. She shook her head – Byakuya was right, they had to deal with surviving first.

"God damn it!" Byakuya cursed, as they ran down the fenced line, and they saw a crowd of the undead blocking their exit. "Hiro, can you cut through this?" He asked, "Give me a knife too! We have to hurry! Aoi, protect us!"

Yasuhiro slammed his knife into the fence, and while it did get through, it was only one small wire he cut, they'd need to do it significantly more to make any sort of progress. "This isn't going to work!" He exclaimed, watching the zombies begin to come towards them. The one leading them dropped as Aoi shot another arrow at them, but even she was beginning to look less than convinced of their survival.

"Damn, I didn't want to waste this, but we don't have a choice." Byakuya pulled out his last bomb, and activated it, throwing it at the entrance of the fenced line, and it exploded, clearing a path for them easily. Yasuhiro again led them through, and now that they were out of the death trap of the library, they got a little bit of room to breathe, though not much, since even with the cars impeding their path, there were more zombies they could count, since both explosions caught their attention.

"We're going to have to lose them!" Byakuya told them as he hopped atop a nearby car, followed quickly by the other two. "We can't go into these buildings though, the back entrances might be barricaded shut, and I refuse to let myself die such an unworthy death!"

"Then what should we do?" Aoi asked.

"One of these cars must have an alarm still in them, right?" He replied, pulling out the pistol, "That can be the distraction we need."

Aoi covered her ears the moment Byakuya shot his gun off through one of the car's nearby, shattering its window, but no alarm went off. Byakuya fired off another bullet into another car, and yet again, there wasn't a single sound. "Are you sure this plan is gonna work?" Yasuhiro asked, backing away from the edge of the car as the zombies neared, "We have to move now!"

Firing one more shot into a car, Byakuya let out a very pleased laugh as it started to ring out loudly, attracting the horde's attention. A genuinely happy smile passed his face before he snuffed it out, and shook his head, "We need to make it back to Kyoko and the others, Hiro, you'll lead us again, kill _any_ of them that get in our way!"

They jumped from car to car due to their density, and once they passed that and were on the ground on the opposite end of the street, the three of them looked back at the evacuation center, which was now being swarmed by the undead. The car in particular was being assaulted by them as well, and they could see that there had to be at least several dozen clustered around the car alone, while there were another several dozen around the library entrance.

"If we didn't have those bombs, we would have been dead…" Aoi muttered, a cold feeling passing through her. It wasn't pleasant to imagine your own death, and she quickly shook it from her head, "Do we just go back now? Maybe we can find some supplies or something?"

"That would be worthless," Byakuya disagreed, "It's like the casino all over again, and this place had tens of thousands of people fleeing to it. Once they realized that it was a lost cause, no doubt they tried to gather their supplies."

"But…" Yasuhiro mumbled, "We only have a couple days left of food on us…"

"I'm aware." Byakuya answered, looking very annoyed, "I'll need to talk to Kyoko about what we should do. Hiro, lead us back, and make sure to be careful, I think all that ruckus woke the undead up from their nap." All around them the undead were still walking towards the noise of the car, and as long as they stayed silent, they should be safe.

The day advanced slowly as the three cautiously made their way back to the house that their companions were resting in. Yasuhiro would occasionally stop the group, and Aoi would use one of her arrows on them, though they definitely made sure to retrieve these ones, since after all of that, Aoi was reduced to a measly seven arrows left. Byakuya likewise would occasionally stop them to rest for a little bit, not wanting their senses to be dulled by exhaustion.

Eventually though they passed by their vehicle again, which was exactly as they left it. Just seeing the car was comforting, since it was the safest thing they've been in for the past few days. However, they didn't stop there, and went a little further along the block to the house that their friends were in, and they entered.

"Kyoko?" Aoi called once they were sure the door was locked and barricaded, "Are you there?"

"Oh! You're back master!" Toko rushed down the hall, and she would have tackled Byakuya in a hug, but he held out his hand to stop her, and then pointed to her injured shoulder.

"Don't do anything that can harm that, you idiot!" He stepped pass her, causing her to pout, though she still looked at him with lust filled eyes, and she was close to drooling. Both Aoi and Yasuhiro side stepped her, not wanting to potentially interrupt her fantasies and get her anger directed towards them.

Byakuya walked into Makoto's room, and glanced down at the boy in question, before his eyes looked towards Kyoko, "Has his condition improved at all?"

"Not in the six or so hours you've been gone, no." Kyoko replied, "He keeps mumbling occasionally, but never anything coherent." Her gaze lingered on Makoto for a bit longer, before it shifted towards Byakuya, "And how was the evacuation center? Is help coming?"

"You know damn well there isn't any help coming!" He snapped. Though Kyoko didn't react at all, Byakuya was aware that he was letting his anger get to him, so he paused briefly, and took a few deep breaths, and that was when the others arrived in the room.

"Is Makoto awake yet?" Aoi asked, trying to keep her positive persona up, not wanting to appear down, "Oh… Guess not…" She mumbled, still seeing him lie asleep.

"Hey Kyoko," Yasuhiro gave the girl a short wave, "I'm sorry, but we didn't find anything out there…"

"I figured that would be the case," She replied, not a hint of disappointment marring her features.

"You _knew_ there wouldn't be anything there, didn't you." Byakuya accused her, giving her a glare, "If you were so confident, then why didn't you dispute me in coming here? Why waste our time on this pointless endeavor?"

"Would you have listened to me? You were so hopeful that there would be help here that you ignored all signs pointing to it not being the case." She answered, "You were willing to split the group up over this decision, if I recall correctly, so my hands were tied."

Byakuya gritted his teeth, though he was inwardly seething at himself. He allowed himself to give into a foolish hope, and as a result, he nearly got himself killed. "If that's the case…" He sighed, sitting down at the chair opposite of Kyoko, "What do you suppose we ought to do? I'll be frank, I didn't think much of what to do beyond this point."

"Fortunately for you, Makoto did." She replied, and he looked up in surprise. She smiled down at Makoto for a moment, though her face hardened yet again as she moved her façade in place, "We're in a coastal town, so undoubtedly there must be a boat nearby, yes?"

"Finding a functional one will be difficult though," Byakuya replied, "Who's to say that it's not just another pointless endeavor like the one we just undertook?"

"Do we really have many options at our disposal?" Kyoko asked, "Anyway, we find a boat, and some fishing rods, or if the boat is out of the question, we just need to find some fishing rods. For now I suggest we live by the shore, and we try to stock up on fish."

"That's assuming we can catch anything," Byakuya replied, "It's another hopeful dream, but…" He let out a soft groan, "We don't have a choice, do we?"

"We could drive away from here," Kyoko mumbled, "But I can't say for certain if we'll run into anything worthwhile. Maybe we would eventually run into a military base or something, but we can't say for certain if we ever would. As far as I see it, we're now running purely on luck. We need food, so to get food, I say we try to find some fishing poles and fish for food. We can't rely on canned food forever, so the sooner we become self-sufficient, the sooner we can survive on our own."

"That sounds like a good plan to me," Aoi replied, though she looked particularly happy about being on the water, "If we have a boat, then we'll be safe from the undead!" She exclaimed, "They can't swim, so we just stock up on food, go out on our own, and just survive out on the water!"

"It sounds good to me," Yasuhiro muttered, "I mean, it's better than just wandering around and hoping we get lucky and find food. At the rate we're going though, we're just going to starve…"

Toko didn't say anything, and instead just stood by her master, and they all were aware that she would do what he wanted without any questions asked. Finally Byakuya responded, "Very well… We don't have a choice, so I suppose we ought to do this. Though there's more than just fishing poles we'll need. We'll need something to help cook the fish, and we'll also need fuel for the boat."

"Then it's settled." Kyoko replied, "Tomorrow morning we'll begin. Make sure to eat and get plenty of rest tonight, since tomorrow is going to be a busy day."

The group dispersed after that, wandering around the house, trying to find rooms where the smell of the dead bodies wasn't so prominent. Kyoko was the only one who stayed put – she had to stay by Makoto's side and treat him, and she wouldn't do anything else, even if given the option.

"Please wake up soon…" She mumbled, wiping his forehead yet again with a wet cloth, and to her immense surprise, he let out a soft groan, and his eyes cracked open just a little bit. She nearly jumped in shock, but she kept herself from doing that much, and she instead got a water bottle, "Makoto," She spoke loud and clear, getting his attention, "Drink this."

He noticed the water bottle, and he weakly opened his mouth, allowing the liquid to go down. Letting out a sigh, he managed to mutter, "Th- - Thank… you…"

"Makoto…" She muttered his name again, and tears began to form in her eyes. She wasn't even sure if he would wake up before, so to see him doing that, and hearing him talk just made her feel such an immense amount of relief, and the massive weight on her shoulder lifted – for the first time in nearly two days, she felt like she could breathe.

"H – How long was I o – out?" He croacked.

"Two days just about," She looked out the window, where the sun was setting in the distance, "We were all so scared… You got a fever, and I – I wasn't sure if you were going to make it." Tears were beginning to go down her cheeks, but she couldn't help but smile, "Thank god…"

"Don't cry…" He mumbled, and he lifted up his hand to wipe them away, but there was just a stump there. He looked at it in confusion for a few seconds, before his eyes widened, "M – My hand?"

"It's gone." Kyoko answered, reaching forward and holding his arm, "But you're alive, and that's all that matters."

He was still in shock though, "B – But I can still feel it," He muttered in awe, "It hurts…"

"It's called phantom pains," She explained, "It'll go away eventually." She sniffled, and quickly reached up to wipe her eyes, "I'm so glad you're alive Makoto… If you died, I… I don't know what I would've done…"

"You would have gone on," He stated, his voice growing a bit stronger as he adjusted more and more to his surroundings, "You're strong. I know you would have."

"I'm glad we don't have to test that theory of yours," She replied, and she noticed he was beginning to drift off again, "Don't stay awake on my account."

"But… I've been sleeping enough already…" He mumbled, "I… I need to get up…"

"Sleep just this night," She replied, "Tomorrow we'll all work together, ok?"

He nodded and closed his eyes, his head tilting to the side – he was fast asleep yet again. Kyoko wiped her eyes, a genuine smile on her face, and she felt hopeful for their future. She wouldn't give into despair, since as long as she had Makoto by her side, she could do anything she needed to do.


	9. Recovery

Chapter Nine

Recovery

The docks were a complete mess, boats half sunken lay in the water abandoned, and several of the wooden piers were collapsed into the water, the wooden platforms consequently destroying any of the boats that happened to be tied to them. The walkway by the docks was at least clear, and the entire place was mostly devoid of the undead, due to the noise that happened yesterday, but that was hardly any consolation. It was probably safe to assume that most of them wandered back into the town to go towards the library where the evacuation center was located.

Aoi walked along the docks, trying to find any boats that happened to be in working condition, but no matter how much she looked, there just wasn't anything that looked even remotely operation. She mournfully looked at some of the sunken boats, wishing that there was some way to fix them and get them floating, but she knew no one in her group had the knowledge nor the time to do that. After another five minutes of walking along the docks, she finally gave up, and ran down to one end of the dock, where the rest of the group was resting.

They were gathered around a bench, Makoto was sitting down looking absolutely exhausted, his sword sheathed on his back, though they knew he couldn't really make much use of it. That was to be expected perhaps, since his wound was still quite fresh, and he complained about feeling an immense pain in his limb, which was quite obvious by the way he held it so close to his chest and hissed in pain when they had to navigate particularly bumpy terrain. Still, Aoi was just happy that he was ok – that morning when he woke up, she actually started crying and ran over to hug him. Just the thought of that brought a healthy red hue to her cheeks.

Byakuya regained most of his spirit he lost the previous day, and he too was sitting down on the bench, talking quietly to Kyoko who sat on the last available spot on the bench. He had a shotgun wrapped around his back, while Kyoko had her pistol in her pocket, their heads were together, and they again were giving all of their attention to the map in their hands. If Aoi had to guess, she'd say that they were looking for some sort of boating shop or a sports store to try and find fishing poles and other necessary supplies.

Yasuhiro was at the edge of the docks, his arms rested on the railings as he looked out across the ocean, the calmest look Aoi could recall was on his face. It made sense, she supposed, the sound of the ocean was making even her feel relaxed, since the undead weren't around to bother them.

Toko fortunately reverted back to her other personality in the morning, and she was just nervously pacing around, her eyes darting all around the place, as if she were afraid of an attack at any second. While Aoi found herself growing a little annoyed with the girl, she had to concede that it was probably a very smart idea to be that paranoid, since in the world they lived in now, it would inevitably save her life one day. Aoi shook herself out of her thoughts, and walked towards the bench.

"I couldn't find any boats that worked," She told them, "There were a lot of them in the water though, and some looked like they could float, but they looked too wrecked to do anything with." She explained.

"That was to be expected, honestly." Byakuya muttered, "Though it's good to know for sure. Then what's the plan now?"

"This town is right along the ocean, there has to be more boats elsewhere," Kyoko replied, "And we need to get fishing poles too. Even if we don't find a boat, I feel like that will be essential to our continued survival."

"Very well," Byakuya closed the map for now, "Then we'll make our way to the store nearby." He and Kyoko both looked towards the street lining the docks, and they could see various shops lining the street. Most of them looked like shops that used to sell fish, but at the corner, they could see what appeared to be a fishing goods store.

"Wait, it was right there the entire time?" Aoi asked, "Why didn't we go there first?"

"Why go there so soon when we already know the location?" Kyoko asked, "It'll be much more beneficial if we can find a working boat."

"I guess so…" Aoi muttered, letting out a soft sigh, and she heard her stomach growling. With a blush, she averted her eyes away from the group. Honestly, the talk of fish was making her crave it so badly, since the canned food they were eating was just starting to become tasteless due to eating it for so long.

Ignoring Aoi's stomach, Kyoko stood up, and looked towards Makoto, "Are you ok to walk, Makoto?" She asked gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He was sweating, and for a second Aoi was afraid that his fever was coming back, but he nodded, "I'm fine," He replied, "It's just hard to move, I just feel like sleeping…" He got to his feet shakily, and Aoi didn't even think as she rushed to his side when it looked like he was about to fall over. "Thanks…" He mumbled to her, giving her a weak smile.

"It's no problem," Aoi replied sweetly, giving him a much more energetic smile of her own. She could almost not _stop _smiling when it came to Makoto, since she was afraid that he was going to die a few days ago. Seeing him up and about, was just a miracle as far as she was concerned, especially given what happened to him. "Here, just take it easy." She turned to look at Kyoko and Byakuya, "You guys go ahead – Makoto and I will catch up with you."

Kyoko looked ready to protest, but Byakuya spoke up before her, "It's relatively safe here. Hina, don't let anyone or anything harm him, ok?"

"Got it," She nodded, very serious about this. Makoto meant a lot to her, and she wouldn't let anyone hurt him. She had already been unable to do anything once before, and she was determined not to let that happen again. She looked at Kyoko, who still looked conflicted, and Aoi smiled gently at her, "Would you like to stay with us Kyoko? It's not like we're going anywhere else."

Kyoko looked a bit surprised at the invitation, but she smile and nodded, "Yes. I'd appreciate it."

"Don't let me hold you back," Makoto replied, though his good arm was still around Aoi's shoulder. His right arm – the one with the lost forearm – was still held delicately to his chest.

"Don't be silly Makoto," Aoi replied, "You're not holding us back. You're recovering from your wound, so it makes sense that you're not on your A game."

"Hiro, Toko," Byakuya called, getting their attention, "Come with me, we're going to go to the fishing store." He pointed out the shop to them, and the trio went ahead to the store to secure it in case if there were any undead inside.

"Now come on," Aoi began to lead herself and Makoto forward, while Kyoko walked on the other side of Makoto, keeping an eye on him the entire time. If Aoi had to guess, she'd say that Kyoko was similarly amazed at Makoto's quick recovery, and was just as happy to see him up and walking, even if he was injured and a quite sluggish. It would have been better to let him rest for a few more days, but that was a luxury that they could ill afford.

"I'm sorry," He mumbled, his gaze dropping, "I'm slowing us down…"

"If you don't stop being so negative, you'll upset me." Kyoko smacked him lightly on the back of the head, "After what you did for us, you deserve a little slack, and I don't think anyone is going to expect you to fight for now. You really ought to be resting," She sighed, "But Byakuya was right, we need to keep moving."

"Alright," Makoto mumbled, "Then let's get moving," With Aoi's support, he took a shaky step forward, and they continued on their way. The path was clear, as expected, and soon enough they reached the entrance of the shop, and they stood there, peering in to make sure the rest of their team was present. Fortunately, Hiro, Byakuya, and Toko were all inside looking around.

The shop was destroyed, which wasn't all that surprising now. The display windows were smashed, again the act of looters perhaps, but most importantly was that a lot of the merchandise was still present, though some of it was broken, and consequently was worthless. Along the walls were all sorts of fishing poles, and Byakuya grabbed one, looking extremely happy, "It appears that the looters didn't target this building."

"If I were to guess, I'd say it's because at the time of the outbreak, money was a bigger priority for the looters – they didn't realize that it would become worthless after a short while. Afterwards, they went for food, hence the lack of any food in many of the stores and houses we stop at. I don't think any of them prioritized shops like this, or if they did, it was too late in this instance, since the town was probably overrun with the monsters."

"Well, I guess there's a silver lining to everything," Yasuhiro replied, picking a fishing pole and looking at it with excited eyes, "The zombie horde is a terrible thing and all that, but at least it made it so we could get these fishing poles without them being damaged."

"We should leave these here for now," Byakuya muttered thoughtfully, "I doubt the undead will have a use for them, and until we get a boat or decide to leave, they will just weigh us down."

"I agree," Kyoko nodded, "Just knowing that they're here is a great burden off of our shoulders. We now have an opportunity to start being self-sufficient."

"Um, if we're trying to become self-sufficient, maybe it would be worth looking into getting some seeds to plant? It would take a lot longer to get results than fishing, but… well, it might be worth looking into."Aoi suggested to the two of them a little hesitantly.

Byakuya looked at her thoughtfully, "Well…I suppose if we do go on without assistance for a while, it wouldn't be a bad idea. We'll make a detour to stop at a garden shop then," Byakuya replied, and he reached back to his pocket and pulled out his so often used map of the city he found.

Toko meanwhile was still wandering around the shop, and as she was behind the counter, she noticed something, "H – hey, over here!" She was near the entrance of the shop, and she kneeled down behind the counter, where the cash register was smashed on the floor, "I've f – found something!"

"What did you find?" Byakuya asked, walking over to her, "Something useful, I hope."

She reached under the counter, where there was a small hidden compartment, and she pulled out what appeared to be some keys on a keychain, "W – What d – do you think this is for?"

Byakuya grabbed the keys out of her grasp, and he examined them. While the keys looked a little bit different than the car keys, what _really_ got him to feel a spark of hope was the keychain itself – it had a small plastic anchor attached to it as an accessory. "I think you may have just found our way out, Toko." He replied.

She looked shocked for a moment, but then a large smile appeared on her face, "R – Really?!"

"Don't get excited yet," Kyoko muttered, "We haven't found any boats in a drivable condition, so we have to keep in mind the possibility that the boat isn't here."

"You're sure those are boat keys?" Aoi asked, though she couldn't help but feel hopeful. Makoto also looked hopefully at the keys, though like Aoi, he too held in his excitement, which wasn't too difficult, because he barely felt functional.

"There's a chance they might be," Yasuhiro muttered, "We might as well keep the keys with us, I really doubt that the previous owner is really going to need them…" He let it hang, and a short silence persisted as they all wondered just what did happen to the owner of the shop.

"Uh – a – anyway," Toko broke their thoughts, "W – What do we do now? We have f – fishing poles…"

"There are still things we need to gather. We need something to cook with, a grill would be good, but we'd need coal or propane, so we'll have to look into that as well. Hopefully it will be the same as with these fishing poles – untouched. We also need to go to the gardening shop and gather seeds and anything else to help us with growing plants." Byakuya explained, "We might also want to get some clothes as well. It's still in the middle of summer, but once winter comes, I don't want us to freeze to death."

"We shouldn't split up either," Kyoko mumbled, "Two of us are too injured to fight, and can't move fast. I suggest moving slow. Hina and Hiro can keep the path clear, and we'll follow behind."

Aoi wasn't too pleased that she would have to stop helping Makoto, but if there was one other person there that she trusted him with, it was Kyoko. She gently helped Makoto wrap his arm around the pink haired girl's shoulder, and then she got her bow off her back, "Alright, I'll lead the way! Byakuya, you just tell me where to go!"

"Alright, give me a second more," He muttered, his eyes scanning the map just a little bit longer before he pocketed it yet again, and the group of six moved as one, never going too far ahead of one another. Due to Makoto's injuries, it meant that they moved pretty slowly, but it was better than the alternative – plus it gave an added psychological effect as well, since they all felt better knowing everyone was alright.

The roads by the docks were unfortunately crowded with cars and trash as well, and it was easy to assume that most of the owners of the cars perhaps fled to the docks in hopes of finding an operational boat just as they were. Yasuhiro led the group through the traffic slowly, and he'd stop them every once in a while to kill a zombie that happened to be pinned down. After that, he would lead them over the cars if necessary, but he would try to weave around them for Makoto's sake.

The next store they went to was a store that sold things for outdoor usage. There was hiking gear, gardening gear, even some grills that Byakuya was so interested in. Unfortunately, the store was in a much worse condition than the last one, and most of the gear hanging on the racks along the walls or in the middle of the floor were knocked over and even torn in some cases. The gardening section was fortunately almost untouched, and Aoi went over there gleefully, and began to look through the different seeds available.

"Oh! Apple seeds!" She exclaimed excitedly, "That could be fun!"

"Y – You do realize that it would take _years_ before that produces any notable results?" Toko muttered from beside her, "It's not f – feasible."

Aoi let out a displeased groan, but she didn't put it away, "Still, if we're in this for the long term, wouldn't it be smart to take them?"

Toko's faced paled just thinking about what 'long-term' actually meant, and she shrugged, "I – I don't know…"

"Oh! Wheat!" She gasped, pointing them out for Toko. Unlike the apple seeds that were in a small plastic bag the wheat seeds were in a fairly large plastic container, and there had to be thousands of the little things packed in there, "Yes! We can use these to get flour and make our own bread!" She smiled, just imagining eating fresh bread, and she couldn't help but let her mouth water a bit, "Oh… That would be so good…"

Toko at least had no objections to that, and they both continued to look through the fruits and vegetable seeds, as well as the small shovels and other tools. Byakuya and Yasuhiro were wandering around, looking at several of the knocked over grills and setting them upright, and tried to discern if they worked or not. Fortunately, even though people seemed to loot the hiking gear and rations, the grills all had propane tanks still, and as far as Byakuya could tell, they were fully functional as well.

"We should stock up with as many of them as we can possibly get," He muttered, "We should also consider getting some coal as well, for when we inevitably run out of propane, though with the amount here, we could make do for about a year on propane alone, as long as we don't overuse it."

"Cooked food…" Yasuhiro mumbled, "Aw man… It sounds so delicious right now…"

Kyoko was still supporting Makoto, and the two of them looked through the hiking clothes. Unfortunately, unlike the grill and the seeds, they were having much less luck. There were clothes scattered around, but it was a few pieces here and there, it looked like it had been looted completely clean, and there was hardly anything left.

"I guess we'll have to visit a clothing store after this," Kyoko muttered, and then she glanced over at the others, "It looks like the rest are having better than us right now at the very least."

"Good," Makoto replied, "I've thought of something else we might want to look into though," He saw Kyoko give him a curious look.

"What's that?" She wondered aloud, trying to think of necessary things for their survival.

"If we _do_ find a boat, we'll need to do something for fun… It would be fun to ride on a boat for a little while, but I think it would get pretty boring after a while." He explained, "Maybe some books or comics would be good, or some other things…"

"That's a good suggestion," Kyoko praised, and he smiled weakly, "We'll definitely have to tell Byakuya that before we leave here."

"Aoi will probably want to go swimming too," Makoto replied, "If that's the case, then maybe when we're in the clothing store we should get some swimming suits to wear."

"Hm, I wonder why you're bringing that up." Kyoko mumbled, garnering a confused look from Makoto, "Do you just want to see us in a swim suit, I wonder?" She couldn't help but chuckle as his face flared red, and he rapidly shook his head.

"N – No!" He cried, "No, I wasn't think of that!"

"Relax, Makoto," She replied, a smile still on her face, "I was just joking with you."

Makoto let out a soft sigh, "Geez, you're good at stuff like that, you always keep a straight face when you say things, so I don't know if you're being serious or not."

"Well, I learned from a young age to hide my emotions, but I suppose you know that already. Though I will admit, when I'm with you guys, I find it a lot easier to be more honest with how I feel now, especially after what you said…" She turned a bit red, "So thank you for that."

"Ah… It's no problem…" He mumbled, averting his eyes and looking elsewhere.

A few more minutes passed, and Byakuya called the group back together, and they shared their findings. Aoi had nothing but positive things to report, and even Byakuya was positive as he gave his own report. It was only Kyoko who had to give them the bad news that they lacked the proper clothing still, "And Makoto also brought up a good point about bringing things to do while we're on the boat. Stuff to read, or swim suits for us to wear to go swimming with."

Aoi's eyes lit up at the thought, "It's been so long, but if I could go swimming now, that would be amazing!"

"Very well," Byakuya replied, ignoring Aoi's comment, "Then like the fishing supplies, we'll leave the things in this store for now and come back for them once we know for sure that we have a boat. I remember a good clothing shop from the map we can visit that it close to here, and after that we can look into things to entertain ourselves with. Even without a boat, that is a good idea."

After making a neat pile of the loot they intended to take later, they again went out into the streets. The sun was still high in the sky, since they left early to accomplish this, and none of them were worried about the on-coming nightfall just yet. Like before, Aoi and Yasuhiro led the group through the destroyed cars, and Kyoko again helped Makoto, while Toko and Byakuya kept an eye open for any potential attackers.

About ten minutes later, they arrived at their next destination. The clothing store was also in terrible condition, but at least they could still see inside that there were some relatively undamaged clothing in there. Yasuhiro cautiously stepped through the shattered glass doorway, and after looking around inside a bit to make sure it was safe, he waved the rest of the group in, and they again started to look around.

Aoi made her way over to Kyoko and Makoto, giving a short wave, and the three browsed the racks for clothing to wear. All of the clothing that remained was coated in a fine layer of dust, but surprisingly there was a lot of variety despite the fact that the store was so badly damaged. In the back there was a changing room as well, and Aoi got a glint in her eyes as she took some clothes, "I'm gonna go change!"

Kyoko raised her eyebrow, but didn't stop the girl as she ran to the changing room, shutting and locking the door. She couldn't help but wonder that if the world wasn't destroyed, would she have gone shopping like this with Aoi and the rest of her friends? She shook her head, of course not, other than Makoto, she hadn't been particularly close with any of the rest – she had barely even spoken to Aoi at all prior to this, which was a shame.

"I suppose we all ought to change while we're here," Makoto muttered, standing up straighter and pulling away from Kyoko. She watched worriedly as he shakily stood on his own, but he gave her a curt nod. "I'm fine," He assured her, "But I was serious, our clothes are all really destroyed and gross… I think changing would be a good idea."

"Very well," Kyoko nodded. She _did_ feel a bit naked without her favorite jacket, but she had to destroy it for bandages to help Makoto back when his arm was cut off, so now, standing in only her white blouse and skirt, she wouldn't mind changing at all really. Though she really hoped that there were gloves somewhere so she could continue to keep covering her badly burnt forearms – she didn't like it when people saw them and commented on them.

"How do I look?" Makoto and Kyoko glanced away from the racks of clothes and towards Aoi, who decided to wear some blue jeans (Makoto was a bit disappointed by that, she had some nice legs after all – and then he promptly berated himself for thinking that), and she replaced her tank top with a white T-shirt, and though they couldn't see, they knew that she had also replaced her underwear. Her brown hair was still tied up though, which made sense, she probably didn't want the greasy and sweaty strands to get in her eyes and potentially impair her vision.

"You look good," Makoto replied honestly, "How does it feel to wear clean clothes?"

"_Amazing_!" She exclaimed, "I wish I could have taken a bath first, but I'll take clean clothes over nothing any day of the week."

"Then I suppose I'll change next." Kyoko replied, gathering a few clothes and leaving both Makoto and Aoi alone. Like Aoi before, she returned a few minutes later sporting her new clothe– her skirt was replaced with a pair of shorts instead, and she got rid of her blouse in favor of a loose T-shirt as well. She also tied a ribbon in her hair, pulling it back into a pony tail. She wore the same dirty gloves, since she couldn't find anything else to replace them with.

"You know," Aoi muttered, "You don't have to wear those gloves… We won't judge you."

Makoto nodded enthusiastically, "I agree, and I doubt the dead will care either way."

Kyoko gave her friends a warm smile, "I know but… I just feel better with them on. It's dumb, but I feel safer." It was foolish – the undead could _easily_ bite through the cloth, but that wasn't her fear. It was irrational, but she still harbored some fear that her friends would judge her – look at her with mixture of disgust and pity.

"Well, if it makes you feel better," Aoi muttered, "So Makoto, now it's your turn!" She gave him a pat on the back, and he nodded. They helped him walk towards the changing room, despite his protests, and they waited outside eagerly.

Inside, Makoto had a bit of difficulty getting his clothes off due to the loss of his arm, but he didn't call them in to help, feeling that he had to prove himself. It took several minutes longer than it normally would have, but he finally got his clothes off, and the new ones on, and he stepped out. His blood and sweat stained sweatshirt was tossed into a corner of the changing room, instead replaced by a T-shirt, and he removed his old jeans just to replace them with a new pair.

It felt odd to be in clothes that actually felt good to wear and wasn't chaffing his skin, but it was nice. He stretched his good arm, and asked, "So, how do I look?"

"You look fine." Kyoko replied, giving him an approving look.

"You look fantastic!" Aoi exclaimed in her usual manner, much to Makoto's embarrassment. He blushed lightly and scratched his cheek.

"Anyway," Kyoko looked down the store at the other three, "We should let them change and then each of us should grab another pair of clothing, maybe another two or three pairs of socks and underwear as well." She muttered, "And we also need to find swimsuits as well."

Makoto, Aoi, and Kyoko went and told the other three about the changing room, and they all leapt at the opportunity to change, especially after seeing the three of them in new clothes. Byakuya ditched his suit completely and instead went for a button up shirt and some khaki pants. While it wasn't anywhere near as formal as his old attire, it was still a bit more 'dressed up' than the rest of them, though that was just Byakuya for you.

Toko also ditched her dress, and instead got into some much more practical clothes like the rest of the girls, opting to just get some jeans and a T-shirt. Yasuhiro was also just as predictable, and went with the same clothes as Makoto did, though he also decided to try and tie his hair back with mixed results. Overall, they all felt much better, and even Byakuya wasn't frowning quite as much.

"Hey, I found swimsuits over here!" Aoi called, and Makoto went over to her, "Look! What do you think of this?" She held up a two piece swimsuit, and Makoto blushed immediately upon imagining Aoi in it – it left very little to the imagination, and words like 'modest' just didn't apply to it at all.

"Um… Maybe get something a little less…" He struggled to say, "A little less revealing, maybe?"

"What's wrong with it?" She asked, honestly confused.

Kyoko walked over to rescue Makoto, and she replied, "Hina, we've gone over this before, remember? You're a very attractive girl, and the boys will all have a hard time looking at you if you wear something like that."

Aoi's blush suddenly matched Makoto's, and she quickly put it away, "Oh… Uh, right."

In the end, Aoi did get a two piece suit, but it was a much more modest one. Kyoko also got a swimsuit, but she wasn't as daring as Aoi, and got a single piece swim suit, as did Toko. Makoto, Byakuya, and Yasuhiro put almost no thought into it, and just got some trunks to wear. When they were done, they all shoved their preferred clothing into a bag that Byakuya found on a shelf, and then he zipped it up.

"We ought to use a few more of those bags to carry the other things we need," Kyoko muttered, "One for the gardening supplies, one for entertainment purposes, and one for anything else we need."

Byakuya nodded, "That's logical. Since Hina and Hiro are busy leading us, and you're busy holding Makoto, that leaves Toko and I to carry the bags." He looked disgruntled, and they were all aware that he _wanted_ to say that it was a task that was beneath him, but when it came to their survival, he held back tongue, and stayed quiet as they walked out of the store to their next destination – a bookstore that was just down the street.

The same procedure as last time occurred – Yasuhiro went into investigate, and then a few minutes later, he called the rest of them in. Unlike any other store, this was the one that was the least damaged. The door was still even intact, and while a few of the shelves were knocked over, the rest were just fine, with the books sitting where they had been months before, prior to the outbreak reaching the town.

The magazines were all dated to about four months back, and the hottest selling book was prominently on display, showing off a teenage girl standing beside a vampire. There was a comic section as well, with the wall being dominated primarily by manga, and there was even a section for children's books, several of which were coloring books. The group again dispersed into the store, traveling to their preferred sections.

Makoto was looking at the manga, and he reached out, gently rubbing away the dust on the binding of the books, and he couldn't help but sigh, "I wish I brought my own books along." He muttered, "I wouldn't mind rereading that."

"You mean the comics in your room?" Aoi asked, walking up beside him, causing the boy to jump, "Eh, did I scare you?"

"I'm fine," Makoto replied immediately, taking a quick breath, "And yeah, I mean the comics in my room. I wasn't as into it as someone like Hifumi, but I was following that series ever since I was a kid… I wonder if it ever finished." He mused to himself lightly, a tinge of sadness in his voice, "I suppose not…"

"Maybe it did!" She exclaimed, noting his depressive mood, "Is it here?"

"Yeah," He reached up, and grabbed the latest volume of _Naurto_, "Volume sixty eight, let's see…" He flipped through the book, going straight to the end, and he shook his head, "Nope, still 'to be continued'."

"Oh…" She let out, feeling a bit deflated, "Well… Maybe there're some other comics we can find?" She reached up picking the first manga she could find, "There's only a few of these ones here, maybe it's done?"

"What's up with vampires?" He mumbled to himself, shaking his head, "_Karin_? I haven't heard of it, but it looks like it's finished." He grabbed the last volume from the shelf and flipped through it, "Yeah, if you want, you could take this one."

She started to read from the start now, using the sunlight shining in through the window, "Hm… So this girl is a vampire that can go out in daylight?"

He shrugged, "I think there's more to it than that, might as well take it." He grabbed the volumes that Aoi wasn't reading, and dropped them into the bag with his hand, making sure to keep his other arm tucked close to himself. "Let's just grab as many as we can…" He muttered after a little bit, just dropping in anything he thought looked interesting.

Byakuya was busying himself with 'The Wall Street Journal', the last paper to be released by them. He knew it was pointless to look at, but just looking at stocks and the news stories within just made him feel so relaxed. He'd been so busy worrying about the undead and survival, that stuff like this felt almost alien to him now. He slowly folded the paper, and decided to keep it. It would keep him entertained at least.

Toko meanwhile was sitting down with a romance novel in her hands, and she was already fully engrossed in it. Her eyes scanned the pages rapidly, and she was reading so quickly that there was no way she could possibly be retaining any of the information. She suddenly snapped the book shut, and just started to grab as many books from the genre as she could, a genuine smile on her face as she picked them from the shelves.

Kyoko was in the young adult's section of the book store, and she was reading the back of a detective novel, and she smiled lightly. She remembered when she would read them all of the time as a child, and it felt nostalgic to just read a synopsis of one, since they all started to blend together after a while. Like Toko, she started to pick up books from the genre, intent on grabbing as many as possible so she could stay entertained for as long as possible.

Yasuhiro was looking through occult and fantasy books, switching between the two. He loved both genres, and he felt it was his duty to preserve these books for future generations – after all, _Lord of the Rings_ was a fantastic book after all, and there were so many other fantasy trilogies that he felt he _had_ to take with him. He started to pile them in his arms, and along with his occult books, he was full in no time, and went off to find the bag Makoto took.

By the time that the bag was fully loaded with all of the books and comics they wanted to take with them, it could barely zip up, but none of them were willing to leave any of their findings behind, so they forced it to zip up, and Byakuya promptly handed the bag over to Toko, not wanting to carry it himself.

"T – This is pretty heavy," Toko muttered, lifting the bag up, her hands shaking. Who knew that over fifty books, newspapers, and magazines could weigh so much?

"Here, I'll carry it," Aoi offered, taking it without Toko's consent. She easily lifted it up and over her shoulder, and she looked to Yasuhiro, "Make sure the path is clear, got it?"

"Yeah," Yasuhiro replied, his knives out, "It shouldn't be too much trouble, where to next?"

"We need to drop all of this off at the docks and completely our original objective: Find a boat to use." Byakuya explained, "Do you still have the key, Toko?"

She nodded, and pulled it out of her pocket, "R – right here!"

"Then I suggest we don't delay," Kyoko looked out towards the direction of the docks, "The sooner we find a boat, the sooner we can gather everything and get out of here."

"Exactly," Byakuya replied, "Now lead the way, Hiro."

Yasuhiro did just that, leading the group through the streets yet again. Kyoko again lent Makoto her shoulder as he struggled to keep up with the group, and they made pretty good time back towards the docks. Once there, they dropped the bag full of clothes and the bag full of the books by the bench they were at earlier, and they formed a small circle, trying to determine exactly where to look for a boat.

"Hina, you said you didn't see any boats earlier?" Kyoko asked again, "Are you sure you didn't miss any of them?"

"I'm positive that I would've noticed a boat if it was floating – there were a lot of sunk ones though!" She explained as if that were a positive thing.

"We'll double check as a group," Byakuya decided, "If there's indeed no boats on the water, that doesn't mean that we might not find a boat elsewhere – maybe it's on a trailer or in a storage house or something."

"There's a few storage buildings around here," Yasuhiro replied, "Maybe there's a boat in there?" He turned to Toko, "Are there any markings on the key we can use?"

Toko shook her head, "N – Nothing."

"Damn…" He mumbled, crossing his arms, trying to think of what they could do.

"Let's just do what Byakuya said," Makoto spoke up, "We'll look at the docks one more time, and then we can do what Hiro said and look around in the storage units or something." He coughed at the end of his statement, and Kyoko felt him putting more of his weight onto her. She didn't complain though, and accepted it, allowing him to use her as a support however he needed.

"Then let's not waste time," Byakuya replied, "I don't want to stay out after dark."

"We still have a long time before the sun sets," Aoi complained, "There's no need to rush!"

"Feel free to go as slowly as you like. The sooner we get a boat and leave, the sooner we'll escape this hell hole." He exclaimed, giving the girl a flat stare, "If you wish to prolong our experience here, then be my guest."

Aoi glared at him, but didn't say another word, knowing that he was right, despite how big of an ass he was being. "So we'll just leave these bags here?" She asked, turning to Kyoko.

"For now, yes," Kyoko nodded, "They'll be safe, and if there were other survivors, I think we'd have run into them by now."

"And just in case if we _do_ run into other survivors, they are our enemies. Do not even attempt diplomacy – give them a warning if you must, but we've yet to meet _anyone_ who meant us no harm in this world, so we in turn won't provide anything for others." Byakuya pushed his glasses up his nose as he said that, and he stalked off, forcing Yasuhiro to lead the group. Toko was right behind him, and the remaining three walked in the back.

"I don't agree with that at all…" Makoto muttered, shaking his head, "If we do that, we're just as bad as the people who've hurt us…"

Kyoko didn't say anything – she agreed with Byakuya fully, but she didn't feel like arguing about it with Makoto. Instead she looked to Aoi, "Can you cover the back of our group with your bow? Call out if you see any of the undead around."

"Got it!" Aoi replied, pulling an arrow and staying alert as she walked slowly behind Kyoko and Makoto.

As Aoi said, there weren't any boats in the water that were operational, and after reaching the other end of the dock, the group again formed a small circle, trying to plan where exactly to go next.

"How about the storage building right here?" Yasuhiro pointed to a massive building at the edge of the dock, crates and other various materials scattered all around. It was evident that it was used to store imported goods and supplies, and perhaps other things from the local owners. The two large doors in the front of it were wide open. It was very dark however, due to the lack of natural sunlight coming in, and the windows that were in there were very dusty.

"It's dangerous to look there," Kyoko replied, "We'll have to stay alert," She warned, "There could be undead wandering around in the darkness. If you even start to hear a moan, make your way to the front."

"Wait, why don't we just lure them out like the grocery store that one time?" Aoi asked.

"We're down by two people now," Byakuya shook his head, "It would leave clean up to you and Yasuhiro, and I don't want to risk either of you clumsy fools getting bitten."

"You fought with a knife pretty well if I recall!" Aoi exclaimed, crossing her arms as she narrowed her eyes at him, "Why don't _you_ help us fight them then so we can do this the easy way instead of risking our lives?"

"She has a point," Kyoko replied, and Byakuya's furious eyes landed on her. However, he forced himself to calm down, and he finally nodded.

"Fine… I suppose we don't have much choice. Be careful Hiro, I'd prefer _not_ to get blood on my new clothes." He accepted the knife that Yasuhiro handed him, and he told Aoi to go to the doors and yell out for the zombies.

"WE'RE OUT HERE!" She yelled into the doors loudly, "COME GET US!" She stepped back quickly, preparing her bow and arrow as the inevitable moan of the undead started to become louder and louder. Due to the choke point, the first few undead that died became an almost insurmountable obstacle for the ones before them, and soon the entrance was cluttered with the corpses of at least a dozen of the undead.

"Wait a little bit," Kyoko replied, "More may still come."

To keep safe, the group waiting for almost a full ten minutes, killing two other undead in that time. After that, it was quiet for quite some time, and Byakuya finally announced, "It's safe, let's go in. The more time we waste out here, the less time we have to prepare."

The inside was just as dark as it looked from the outside, though it did at least get a bit easier as they eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness surrounding them. Still, they walked slow and stayed alert, not wanting to be surprised by any of the undead, "Go in pairs," Kyoko mumbled, "And if you hear any of the undead here, yell out immediately and rush to the entrance, we don't want to fight in the dark."

There were columns of stored supplies, making several dozen rows in the storehouse. There were lights on the ceiling, and Yasuhiro flipped the light switch near the entrance of the place, but it was no use – none of the lights came on. It was expected, but disappointing regardless. Byakuya and Toko went to the right, Yasuhiro and Aoi went to the left, and Kyoko – with Makoto still using her as support – went down the middle of the warehouse.

"I wonder what's in all these crates." Makoto wondered aloud, "If we had a crowbar or something, we could open them up."

"Let's focus on our objective," Kyoko replied calmly, "We need to find a boat first and foremost." She continued scanning the aisle they were in, but it soon because obvious that it was just stacks of cracks, there weren't any boats anywhere.

"I guess," Makoto muttered, and he stayed silent. The only noise accompanying them was the sound of their shoes tapping against the cold floor as they walked, creating a loud echo that neither of them were too fond of. Reaching the end of the aisle, they were pleased to see a few more windows providing them with a bit more lights, but they still couldn't see any boats.

Twenty minutes or so passed, and the group was again meeting at the front. "Well, did any of you find it?" Byakuya asked impatiently, blinking a few times to allow his eyes to adjust to the sunlight.

"Don't you think that we'd be really excited to tell you if we _did_ find it?" Aoi asked, "Though to answer your question, if it wasn't obvious enough, no, we didn't find anything at all."

"Shit," Byakuya muttered, "I don't suppose you had any luck, Kyoko?" He asked, turning to her, and she shook her head. "No matter." He mumbled, "There might be some other docks nearby that we haven't investigated – there has to be a boat."

"Don't get your hopes up – you don't want to make the same mistake as before." Kyoko warned, "We've all known about the possibility of not finding a boat, and we have plans in place if we don't." She looked at all of the group, "It's not the end if we don't find one, so don't lose hope."

"Y – Yeah…" Toko nodded, surprisingly agreeing with Kyoko, "B – Byakuya, don't let t – this get you down."

Byakuya shook his head, though it was clear that he was in an improved mood already, "You're right." He mumbled, and he shook his head, regaining much of his confidence, "Of course. We'll still look for a boat, since it's still our highest priority, and if we don't find one within a few more hours, we'll get the supplies we need and just leave."

"That's acceptable." Kyoko replied with a nod, "So where should we look for the boat next?"

"Well… Maybe some of the houses along the water?" Aoi pointed out to the distance, and they could make out several homes built by the water, having their own piers, "It's hard to see, but maybe they have some boats we can borrow?"

"It's worth a look," Makoto replied, causing Aoi to smile happily at him.

"Yes," Byakuya nodded, "It will take a while to reach there though, are you ok to walk such a distance?" Byakuya asked, looking at Makoto.

Makoto frowned, feeling a flash of annoyance go through him, "Of course I am!" He exclaimed, he held his arm closer to his chest, "I'll be fine." He mumbled at a lower volume, "Trust me."

"Very well." Byakuya muttered, looking at Makoto pensively for a few more seconds, "Then I suppose we ought to get going. Hiro, Hina, lead the way."

The group started moving yet again, going back towards the road that the docks were nearby, and then following it down along the ocean. They passed a beach, and it took all of Aoi's willpower not to ask if they could relax there. They had other things to worry about, but just laying down out in the sun, the sound of the waves crashing along the shore… It sounded so peaceful that she nearly started to tear up as they passed by without a single word.

The roads were a bit sandy due to the wind and the lack of people to keep it clear, and there were even a few piles of it here and there, in addition to the cars. Fortunately, fewer cars packed the roads by the beach, and the group was able to safely pass by with almost no issues whatsoever – not even a zombie was around for them to fight and dispose of.

The road took a turn away from the beach, and they followed it further into a residential area, the houses here were considerably nicer, and a few months back, they must have looked absolutely breathtaking. All of them stood two stories, occasionally three stories tall, and while they were packed in tightly together, the yards were even decorated – though the grass and weeds now overgrown over anything of note. Some of the buildings were in relatively good condition, while others had their windows broken and their doors torn down.

Still, the group ignored them, and took the first left turn the road provided, and they walked down a path again heading towards the water. The houses here were similarly well made, and they lined along the coast, each having their own private piers for their boats. It was difficult to see the piers however from the street, so the group walked through the yard of the nearest house, and went to the back, where they could make out the marina that these houses lined themselves along.

"Wow." Aoi muttered sadly, "This must have looked amazing when it was… not ruined…" She finished lamely, averting her eyes.

"This house doesn't have a boat," Byakuya growled, "Do you see any of these piers with a boat attached to it?" He asked, scanning his eyes out, but they stopped dead on what appeared to be a floating boat a few houses down. "There!" He cried, "Over there, let's go!"

Kyoko was genuinely surprised, and she didn't even think to hide it and she asked, "Wait? There's actually a boat? How?"

"Does it matter?" Makoto asked, unable to hide his smile, "We actually found one!"

The group neared the boat, and they could immediately tell it was a sailboat, and it was safely attached to the pier. It looked like it was in pristine condition, and they noticed why immediately – surrounding the pier, in the water, and surrounding the house itself was a small horde of the undead. Byakuya ducked down a few yards down, hiding behind a fence as he looked at the horde, "I suppose that's why it's still there." He muttered, giving Kyoko a quick look.

"Maybe we can use that shotgun we found…" Aoi muttered, looking at the gun hanging off of Byakuya's backside, "It could be put to use… right?"

"I could," Kyoko muttered, "But…" She tapped her chin, "It can definitely be used as a distraction. Go shoot it off in the road, and I'm positive that it will attract the horde there. Whoever's the bait will just lure them around for a little bit, and then come back and jump on the boat, and we can get out of here."

"There's just _one_ little problem with that," Yasuhiro replied, "Do _any_ of you guys know how to drive a boat? Let alone a sail boat?"

"Y – You could d – drive a car… Can't y – you do this too?" Toko asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"What? A boat and a car are two hugely different things!" Yasuhiro exclaimed.

"Shush you two!" Byakuya snapped, "We'll figure it out as we go. The sails can prove useful to us, and the boat is large enough to suitably carry all of us." He stood up, "I'll distract them, and I want you all to get it running. Toko, if the keys don't belong to the damn thing, make sure you try to search the house for a key, or maybe one of the corpses has a key we can use."

"G – got it…" Toko nodded, though she shook just at the mere thought of looking on a dead body for a key.

"Then good luck to you all," Byakuya replied, walking towards the street from the backyard. A good minute passed before they heard a very loud _BOOM_, and the shattering of glass, and the moans started to sound as the zombies looked towards the direction of the sound and started making their way towards the street.

Kyoko forced them to wait a few minutes, and then they sprang into action. Toko was ahead of the pack, and she ran onto the pier and jumped into the boat before Aoi and Yasuhiro even made it to the pier. Kyoko was going slowly for Makoto's sake, since he was having difficulties moving so quickly. Soon however, with the help of Aoi and Yasuhiro, Makoto got onto the boat, and sat on one of the padded seats lining the back end of the boat as Kyoko ran to help the others start the boat.

The boat was rather large – there was a part where people could sit and fish, the seats were padded, and there were little nooks to put fishing poles. Further on, there was a door leading inside the ship, and beside that was a few steps leading up to the steering wheel in an enclosed area. The mast of the ship was right in-between the door leading below the ship, and the enclosed steering wheel. There was a small path on either side of the ship that led to the front, where one could perhaps lay down, but that was not on any's mind.

Instead, Toko jammed the keys into the slot, and everyone let out a cheer as not _only_ did the keys fit, but when turned, the boat started, and they saw it had a full tank of gas. They'd have to conserve it and use the sails, but for now, it was the salvation that they _all_ were waiting for.

"Byakuya!" Toko screamed at the top of her lungs, "COME ON!" She yelled, "IT'S WORKING!"

Aoi covered her ears and looked at the girl in annoyance, but that soon disappeared into terror as she noticed Byakuya rushing back to them, with what looked like several dozen of the monsters chasing him. "Crap! Who's going to drive?!"

"I'll do it," Kyoko replied, stepping into the driver's seat, and forcing the others out of the relatively small pilot area, "Make sure none of the undead make it onto the boat! Do you understand me?" She pulled out her pistol, and tossed it to Aoi, "Don't waste your arrows – they're reusable and can serve a purpose elsewhere. We don't want to lose them."

"G – Got it!" Aoi replied, and she, Yasuhiro, and then Byakuya who jumped on board all looked towards the undead slowly shambling towards them. Aoi lifted up her pistol, and took a shot, but she only nailed one in the shoulder, but that was enough, since the force make it fall backward, impeding the rest of them.

The boat started to move backwards out of the pier, and Byakuya lined up one shot with the shotgun, and fired again. Unlike the gun Aoi shot, the force of the shotgun's buck shot made the zombie it hit go flying backwards, hitting the others like a bunch of bowling pins, and he let out a pleased hum. Soon the boat was out of the pier's range, and everyone relaxed as the boat slowly began to make its way out of the marina, and sailed along the shore.

"We did it!" Aoi cried, watching the undead trying to them, but all that happened was that they fell into the water and sunk, or they followed along on the land for as long as they could before getting stuck on something, unable to realize the need to get off of the thing to continue the pursuit. The boat was going very slow, and Kyoko quickly scanned the other buttons and levers, making sure not to mess with anything.

"Now go back to the docks," Byakuya instructed, "We'll get the bags we left there and go get everything else. Makoto, you stay here on the boat with Kyoko and defend it." He instructed, knowing that Makoto would be safe, and he wouldn't be slowing them down due to his injury.

Makoto nodded, "Yeah… I'm not really useful anyway…" He looked down distastefully at his lost limb, and an unreadable look crossed his face. Yasuhiro noticed it however, and he averted his eyes, a ball of guilt forming inside of him.

After Kyoko managed to dock the ship (and they all helped tie it up), the four left to go get everything. The bag filled with their clothing and the bag they filled with the books were both in good condition and were untouched, so they quickly brought those over first and dumped them on the ship, making Makoto and Kyoko put them inside the ship, which while wasn't _huge_, it was large enough to at least fit all of them, even if it would be cramped.

After that, they left again, and returned nearly an hour later, with one bag full of seeds and other gardening supplies at Aoi's insistence, and Yasuhiro and Byakuya were both carrying the grill, while Toko was carrying a large propane tank, and the poor girl looked ready to pass out from the weight of the damn thing. With that, they only had to go back for the fishing poles, which they did much quicker, due to the distance the store was from the docks.

"Here," Aoi jumped on the boat one final time, and she tossed Kyoko a small bottle, "It's sun tan lotion. I figured it would come in handy."

Kyoko raised her eyebrow, "Thanks, I suppose."

"There's a lot more where that came from," Aoi replied, holding up the fifth bag full of supplies, "I just packed this one with lotion and fishing supplies, since I think we'll all need a bit of help when it comes to fishing."

"Smart," Kyoko replied, giving the girl a smile, "Go put it inside for now, but be mindful, Makoto's sleeping in there."

"Already?" Aoi asked in surprise, "He must have been a lot more tired than we thought…" A frown immediately crossed her face, "He's going to be ok, right?"

"He'll be fine," Kyoko was quick to assure her, "He needed a lot of rest, and today wasn't necessarily good for him, but I don't think it will harm him in the long run." She explained.

"Good." Aoi muttered, a sigh of relief leaving her lips as she entered the ship. There was a small table inside, what appeared to be four beds – two on either side (they all looked kind of uncomfortable to Aoi), and in between the beds were the bags. One for the books, one for their clothes, one for the gardening supplies, and the one she now added to the pile with the sun tan lotion and fishing supplies. She noticed Makoto, and sat on the edge of his bed so she could get a better look.

He really _did_ look worn out, and she felt a pang of guilt go through her – they should have waited another day at least to do this… He only just recovered from his fever, and he was still really hurt from losing his forearm… She sighed, and pushed aside the strands of hair going in his face. "I'm sorry," She mumbled, "Next time I'll try to be more considerate."

Up on the deck of the boat, Kyoko was again getting in the driver's seat, while Yasuhiro and Byakuya were untying the boat. Toko was sitting down on the large seat, and started to relax. "We're untied." Byakuya called out, throwing the rope into the boat, and climbing in along with Yasuhiro, "You can go."

"Got it." Kyoko did what she did before, and backed the boat out of the dock, making sure to go slow so she wouldn't collide with anything. Once she was sure she was a safe distance, she started to turn the boat, and directed it out further into the ocean, occasionally glancing back to watch the town shrink in the distance.

"Make sure to stay close to the shore," Byakuya warned, "Don't go further than half a mile." With that, he relaxed right next to Toko, who immediately blushed. Byakuya just didn't really care, and he closed his eyes, leaning back and allowing the wind to blow through his hair.

Yasuhiro also sat down, looking out at the land go further and further away, and for the first time since he got out of the school, he felt truly safe. His friends were all ok, and they had enough supplies to hopefully live for a while longer… Like Byakuya, he too leaned back, and felt himself beginning to doze off.

XxXxXxX

A/N - I'm sorry for this taking so long to come out. I had this chapter done for months, and I just never got around to editing it. Chapter ten is also done, but I have no ETA for when that will be released. Chapter eleven in the meantime is about halfway finished, and I had an outline of how the story ends, so I'm hopeful that I'll finish this soon.

I also want to note that this chapter really did have a LOT of convenient things happening for our survivors - finding an operational boat, getting all the supplies, new clothes, and so forth. I know it's all pretty contrived, and even as I was editing the chapter I was thinking of whether I should rewrite it or not to be more natural feeling. In the end, I decided to keep it this way because it's a a fan-fiction and I already have the next chapter written that relies on some things happening as they did in this chapter.

Thanks for reading.


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